whatsoever

whatsoever

English

Alternative forms

• what-so-ever
• whatsomever (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English whatsoever; equivalent to what +‎ soever.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌwɒtsəʊˈɛvə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌ(h)wʌtsoʊˈɛvɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛvə(ɹ)

Determiner

whatsoever

1. (formal or literary) Whatever.

   The building may be used for whatsoever purpose the tenant desires.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554, line 587:

     […] In whatſoever ſhape he lurk, […]

Usage notes

The word is sometimes divided by tmesis: “What things soever ye desire”. (King James Version, Mark 11:24)

Adverb

whatsoever (not comparable)

1. In any way; at all; whatever.

   He gave me no answer whatsoever.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698, page 1:

     In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.

   • 2019 — Dierdre Nicole Green, "'I'm the Bishop!' and other Reflections" A Place to Belong, Deseret Book (2019), →ISBN page 141]:

     ...my father's role as the ecclesiastical leader of our ward gave me no license whatsoever to expect obedience from my agemates?

Translations

in any way

Chinese: Mandarin: 任何 (zh) (rènhé), 什麼...也...／什么...也... (shénme... yě...), 什麼...都...／什么...都... (shénme... dōu) Esperanto: kio ajn Finnish: minkäänlainen French: du tout (fr), d'aucune sorte German: überhaupt (de) Hebrew: כְּהוּא זֶה‎ (he) (kehú ze) Hungarian: egyáltalán (hu) Italian: qualsivoglia (it) Latin: quidquid Macedonian: било каков (bilo kakov) Polish: wcale (pl), w ogóle (pl) Portuguese: de forma alguma, de forma nenhuma, de modo algum, de maneira nenhuma, de jeito algum Romanian: deloc (ro), de nici-un fel Russian: в любо́м слу́чае (ru) (v ljubóm slúčaje); как бы то ни́ бы́ло (ru) (kak by to ní býlo) Slovak: vôbec, žiaden m, žiadny m Spanish: en absoluto (es) Swedish: alls (sv)

Pronoun

whatsoever

1. (archaic or literary) Whatever.

   Whatsoever you seek, you will find.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Genesis 31:16:

     Whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

   • c. 1613–1621, Francis Bacon, The judicial charge upon the commission of Oyer and Terminer held for the verge of the Court

     […] I must require you to use diligence in presenting especially those purloinings and imbezlements, which are of plate, vessel, or whatsoever within the King's house.

References

• whatsoever in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• “whatsoever”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.