pron.; contr. (poet.) whoe’er. [Orig. two words, WHO pron. and EVER adv. 8 e.]
I. 1. As compound relative, or with correlative in principal clause, which usually follows but occas. precedes; in generalized or indefinite sense: Whatever person or persons; any one who, or any who.
† Formerly also followed by that (THAT conj. 6).
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 47. Hwa efre þenne ilokie wel þene sunne dei,… beo heo dal neominde of heofene riches blisse.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 45. Who euere of freris … wilen goon among sarasyns…, axe þei leue þerof of here mynystris prouyncyal. Ibid. (1382), Matt. xii. 32. Who euere shal seie a word aȝeins mannys sone, it shal be forȝouen to hym.
1561. T. Hoby, trans. Castiglione’s Courtyer, IV. (1577), S iv b. In case a graue Philosopher should come beefore anye of our Princes, or who euer beside, that woulde shewe them plainlye [etc.].
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., III. ii. 235. Heere she stands, touch her who euer dare. Ibid. (c. 1600), Sonn., cxxxiii. 11. Who ere keepes me, let my heart be his garde.
1655. Theophania, 173. Whoever have opposed their proceedings,… instead of punishment have been rewarded.
1732. Berkeley, Alciphr., I. § 16. Whoever acts with design, acts for some end.
1813. Scott, Rokeby, II. xxvi. Whoever finds him, shoot him dead!
1833. I. Taylor, Fanat., i. 1. Mental disorders which … demand, in whoever would relieve them, the very purest intentions.
1906. E. V. Lucas, Wanderer in Lond., i. 14. Whoever lives there believes nobly in heat, for the chimney is immense.
2. Introducing a qualifying clause with conditional or disjunctive force: If any one at all; whether one person or another; no matter who. (Sometimes with verb in subjunctive.)
Often implying opposition: = ‘notwithstanding any one who,’ or ‘notwithstanding that any one’: cf. WHATEVER 3.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xxix. 24. Fra it [sc. my purse] as fra the Feynd thay [sc. coins] fle, Quha evir tyne, quha evir win.
1591. Shaks., 1 Hen. VI., I. iii. 7. Who ere he be, you may not be let in. Ibid. (1595), John, V. v. 19. Who euer spoke it, it is true. Ibid. (1605), Macb., IV. i. 47. Open Lockes, who euer knockes.
1667. Milton, P. L., X. 14. Not to taste that Fruit, Whoever tempted.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 92, ¶ 7. I … must here take occasion to thank A. B. whoever it is that conceals himself under those two Letters.
1781. Cowper, Expost., 701. If he guard thee…, Whoe’er assails thee, thy success is sure.
1794. Paley, Evid., II. vi. (1817), 126. The books, whoever were the authors of them, were composed [etc.].
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xxxiii. Whoever you may be, sir,… I am deeply grateful to you.
1863. Miss Braddon, Aurora Floyd, xxx. Whoever it is, I won’t see them to-night.
¶ 3. Used ungrammatically for the objective: Any one whom; whomsoever.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., V. iii. 173. Who ere you find attach. Ibid. (1613), Hen. VIII., II. i. 47. Who euer the King fauours, The Cardnall instantly will finde imployment.
1780. Mirror, No. 95, ¶ 3. Whoever you marry … will have no reason to complain of your temper.
II. 4. interrog. [EVER adv. 8 d.] An emphatic extension of who, implying perplexity or surprise. colloq.
Properly written as two words.
[1875. Dasent, Vikings, lvi. Who ever would have thought it, a short hour ago?]
1881. R. G. White, Eng. Without & Within, xvi. 385. Ever is frequently heard in composition thus: ‘Whoever is it?’ ‘Whatever can it be?’ This usage is mostly confined to ladies, and is not regarded as good English.
