whosoever

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See also: whosoëver

English

WOTD – 21 May 2006

Alternative forms

whosoëver (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English whosoever. By surface analysis, who +‎ so +‎ ever.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /huːsəʊˈɛvə/
(US) IPA^(key): /huːsoʊˈɛvɚ/
Audio (US) (file)
Audio (AU) (file)
Rhymes: -ɛvə(ɹ)

Pronoun

whosoever (objective whomsoever, possessive whosesoever) (formal)

Whatever person or persons: emphasised or elaborated form of whoever.
Whosoever partakes of this elixir shall have eternal life.
- 1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. (First Quarto), London: Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, , published 1597, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
  If thou do pardon whoſoeuer pray, / More ſinnes for this forgiueneſs proſper may: […]
- 1611, The Holy Bible, (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Luke 6:47:
  Whoſoeuer commeth to me, and heareth my ſayings, and doeth them, I will ſhew you to whom he is like.
- 1638, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Cure of Deſpaire by Phyſick, good counſell, comforts, &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy. , 5th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 3, section 4, member 3, subsection 6, page 707:
  His mercy is a panacea, a balſome for an afflicted ſoule, a Soveraigne medicine, an alexipharmacum for all ſinne, a charme for the Divell, his mercy was great to Solomon, to Manaſſes, to Peter, great to all offenders, and whoſoever thou art, it may be ſo to thee.
- 1840 May 5, Thomas Carlyle, “Lecture I. The Hero as Divinity. Odin. Paganism: Scandinavian Mythology.”, in On Heroes, Hero-Worship and The Heroic in History, London: Chapman and Hall, , published 1840, →OCLC, page 8:
  This world, after all our science and sciences, is still a miracle; wonderful, inscrutable, magical and more, to whosoever will think of it.
- 1982 (date recorded), Rod Temperton (lyrics and music), “Thriller”, performed by Michael Jackson:
  Whosoever shall be found without the soul for getting down, must stand and face the hounds of hell

Usage notes

See who and whom.

Related terms

Translations

whatever person

Greek:
Ancient: ὅστις (hóstis)
Latin: quisquis (la)

Anagrams

howsoever

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