whomever C2+ Topic:Grammar & Function Words US /huːmˈɛv.ɚ/ UK /huːmˈev.ə/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 pron the objective form of whoever; any person whom Give the prize to whomever you judge most deserving. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 pron · the objective form of... whoeveranyone Word family Forms whomsoever Related forms whoeverwhomwho Etymology AI details From whom (objective of who) + ever, an emphatic compound; whom derives from Old English hwām, dative of hwā ('who'), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷos. hwām Old English *kʷos Proto-Indo-European View etymology graph -> Topics Grammar & Function Words Word Formation & Derivatives External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # whomever **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** pron **IPA (US):** /huːmˈɛv.ɚ/ **IPA (UK):** /huːmˈev.ə/ ## Meanings 1. the objective form of whoever; any person whom ## Examples - Give the prize to whomever you judge most deserving. ## Synonyms - whoever - anyone ## Related Forms - whoever - whom - who ## Roots and Affixes - Root: hwām - Root: *kʷos ## Etymology From whom (objective of who) + ever, an emphatic compound; whom derives from Old English hwām, dative of hwā ('who'), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷos. ## AI Etymology Whomever comes from whom (objective of who) + ever, an emphatic compound; whom derives from Old English hwām, dative of hwā ('who'), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷos. In current use it is a pronoun meaning "the objective form of whoever; any person whom". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. The historical chain includes Old English hwām and Proto-Indo-European *kʷos. Related English forms include whoever, whom, and who. The word's history is thus visible in its construction: the components remain interpretable even after the whole expression has settled into a conventional English meaning. ## Topics - Grammar & Function Words - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown