Etymology

which

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Today it means: What, of those mentioned or implied. Full definition →

Middle English which ← Old English hwelċ ← Proto-Germanic *hwilīkaz
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hwilīkaz“what kind”
  2. Old English · inherited fromhwelċ“which”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromwhich
  4. English todaywhich

From Middle English which, hwic, wilche, hwilch, whilk, hwilc, from Old English hwelċ (“which”), from Proto-Germanic *hwilīkaz (“what kind”, literally “like what”), derived from *hwaz. Cognates include Scots whilk (“which”), West Frisian hokker (“which”), Dutch welk (“which”), Low German welk (“which”), German welcher (“which”), Danish hvilken (“which”), Swedish vilken (“which”), Norwegian hvilken (“which”), Icelandic hvílíkur (“which”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.