whether

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Without discussing whether or not the Greeks and Romans made use of coal, whether the Chinese worked coal mines before the Christian era, whether the French word for coal (HOUILLE) is really derived from the farrier Houillos, who lived in Belgium in the twelfth century, we may affirm that the beds in Great Britain were the first ever regularly worked.

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Definitions (16)

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  1. conjunction Used in indirect questions to introduce one alternative: We should find out whether the museum is open. See Usage Notes at doubt, if.
  2. conjunction Used to introduce alternative possibilities: Whether she wins or whether she loses, this is her last tournament.
  3. conjunction Either: He passed the test, whether by skill or luck.

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Examples (50)

  • [471] So solid a city, in such an important position, was sure to attract such settlers, whether from the Latins dwelling about it, or from the Etruscans on the north, or the Greek cities along the coast southwards and in Sicily. —  The Religious Experience of the Roman People From the Earliest Times to the Age of Augustus
  • Whether it was enough to prove Mrs. Marland's case or not--whether, that is, it is inconceivable that a young man should go to any place fourteen evenings running, and upset a friend of his youth out of a canoe, except there be a lady involved, is perhaps doubtful; but it was more than enough to show Mr. Sigismund Taylor that the confession he had listened to was based upon fact, and that Charlie Merceron was the other party to those stolen interviews, into whose exact degree of heinousness he was now inquiring. —  Comedies of Courtship
  • [1 1] This letter may be found in Missionary Herald for 1848, p. 98 At the suggestion of Lord Cowley, the Porte promised to send letters to five different pashalics where there were Protestants, requiring them to act in accordance with the letter; in which was granted the privilege of toleration to all Protestant subjects alike, whether from the Armenian, Greek, Syrian, or Roman Catholic Churches, or from the Jews This letter was of great importance under the existing circumstances; but the privileges it conferred might all be taken away on a change of ministry. —  History Of The Missions Of The American Board Of Commissioners For Foreign Missions To The Oriental Churches, Volume II.
  • So exasperating was he that sometimes I even doubted whether his behaviour really was assumption--whether, after all, I had not been deceived in the man; whether it was not rather his former good behaviour that was assumed, while his present delinquencies were the result of an outbreak of irrepressible evil in him. —  The Cruise of the "Esmeralda"
  • On the other hand, the Romance words--as they are called, whether from the French or directly from the Latin--are likely to be longer; they belong generally to the more complicated relationships of society and government; they are more intellectual in the sense that they represent the operations of the brain rather than the impulses of the heart. —  Public Speaking
 

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Etymologies (3)

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  1. Middle English, from Old English hwether; see kwo- in Indo-European roots.

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  1. Formerly also contr. wher, where; from Middle English whether, whather. whæther, wether, wather, hwether, hwather, qvether, also contr. wher, from Anglo-Saxon hwæther, hwether = Old Saxon hwethar, hueder = OFries. hweder, hoder = Middle Low German weder, wedder, Low German wedder, weer = Old High German hwedar, huedar, wedar, which of two, Middle High German G. weder = Icelandic hvadharr, contr. hvārr, hvorr = Goth, hwathar, which (of two); = Old Bulgarian Russian kotoruiĭ, which, = Latin uter (for *cuter) = Greek κότερος, πότερος = Sanskrit katara, which (of two); with comparative suffix -ther (-der. -ter, etc.), from the base hwa of the pron. who: see who, and cf. what, etc. Cf. either.
  2. from Middle English whether, wheeler, wether, hwether, contr. wher, wer. from Anglo-Saxon hwæther, hwether = Old Saxon hwethar = OFries. hweder = Middle Low German weder, wedder = Old High German hwedar. wedar, Middle High German G. weder = Icelandic hvārt, whether; orig. neuter of the pron. whether: see whether, adjective and pron.
 

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/ˈhwɛðɛr/
by American Heritage
by Grant Barrett
by Grant Barrett

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