pron. and a. arch., chiefly poet. [ME. w(h)at so, quatso, hwat se, (Orm.) whattse, reduced form of OE. swá hwæt swá, early ME. swa hwet swa, generalized form of hwæt WHAT pron.: see SO adv. 17 d.]
1. a. pron. = WHATEVER 2 a.
c. 1200. Ormin, 426. Forr swa we don unnhaȝherrliȝ Whattse we don to gode.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 1324. Oc abraham it wulde wel Quat-so god bad.
c. 1275. Lay., 25703. We leteþ him one don wat so [c. 1205 Faren heu swa] he wolle.
13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 255. & quat so þy wylle is, we schal wyt after.
1340–70. Alex. & Dind., 359. What so we worchen in þis worlde,… For his sake þat it sente soþli we worchin.
1399. Langl., Rich. Redeles, Prol. 36. Mekely to suffre what so him sente were.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 511. And thow mat me ony mair, cum efter quhat sa may, Thow and I sall dyntis deill.
1594. R. C[arew], Tasso (1881), 7. When Sire eternall … Lookes downe, and … in one vew, Comprizeth all what so the world can shew.
1622. Wither, Faire-Virtue, N 2 b. And, my Care, it addes not to What-so, others say, or doe.
1795. Southey, Joan of Arc, I. 70. And whatso He commands, that I must speak.
1876. Morris, Æneids, XII. 182. Whatsoever God Is in the air, or whatso rules the blue sea with its rod.
1900. Beeching, Confer. Bks. & Men, Ded. Despatches, sermons,—whatso goes Into their brain comes out as prose.
b. adj. = WHATEVER 2 b.
1591. Spenser, Virg. Gnat, 682. And whatso other hearb … The ioyous Spring … brings forth … He planted there.
1868. Morris, Earthly Par., I. Prol. 17. His fleet held whatso keel could swim From Jutland to Land’s End.
1891. C. E. Norton, Dante’s Hell, vii. 31. Whatso power he have.
2. a. pron. = WHATEVER 3 a.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 9036. Ne [er] þe gode þe wers to prais, Quat-so men o þe wick sais.
13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 382. Gawan I hatte, Þat bede þe þis buffet, quat-so bi-fallez after.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. X. 128. Al worth as þow wolte, what so we dispute.
1457. Harding, Chron., in Engl. Hist. Rev. (1912), Oct., 747. What so men gat couetyse noght hym fylde.
a. 1542. Wyatt, Poems, Synce loue wyll nedes, iii. Whatso befall, till that I sterve By proof full well it shall be known.
1600. Fairfax, Tasso, V. lxxviii. Loue calles it follie, what so wisdome saith.
1868. Morris, Earthly Par. (1870), I. I. 445. And fearless will I enter here And meet my fate, whatso it be. Ibid. (1870), Ibid., L’Envoi (1890), 444/1. I love thee, whatso time or men may say.
† b. Of a person: Whoever. Obs.
c. 1205. Lay., 6555. What se [c. 1275 wose] hæfde richedom, he hine makede wræcche mon.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 66. Ancre, hwat se heo beo, alse muchel ase heo euer con & mei, holde hire stille.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prol., 522. But it were any persone obstinat, What so he were, of heigh or lough estat Hym wolde he snybben.
1412. in Laing Charters (1899), 24. The forsaid lord or his ayris qwhat sa thai be for the tyme.
1565. J. Hall, Crt. of Virtue, 103 b. The poore man,… As well as he, What so he be, That ryches doth endue.
c. adj. = WHATEVER 3 b.
1867. Morris, Jason, VI. 456. Whatso thing the next day bring, Right merrily shall pass these coming hours.
3. adj. = WHATEVER 4 a.
1902. A. Austin, Crowning of Kingship, ii. And, like the sea, let whatso tempests shrill, One, world-wide,… and free.
