who

¹

[ hoo ]

pronoun

possessive: whoseobjective: whom

1. what person or persons?:

   Who did it?

2. (of a person) of what character, origin, position, importance, etc.:

   Who does she think she is?

3. the person that or any person that (used relatively to represent a specified or implied antecedent):

   It was who you thought.

4. (used relatively in restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses to represent a specified antecedent, the antecedent being a person or sometimes an animal or personified thing):

   Any kid who wants to can learn to swim.

5. Archaic. the person or persons who.

WHO

²

[ duhb-uhl-yoo-eych-oh ]

abbreviation for

1. World Health Organization: an agency of the United Nations, established in 1948, concerned with improving international public health and preventing or controlling communicable diseases on a worldwide basis through various technical projects and programs.

who

¹

/ huː /

pronoun

1. which person? what person? used in direct and indirect questions

   he can't remember who did it

   who met you?

2. used to introduce relative clauses with antecedents referring to human beings

   the people who lived here have left

3. the one or ones who; whoever

   bring who you want

WHO

²

abbreviation for

1. World Health Organization

Usage

See whom

Confusables Note

The typical usage guide statement about the choice between who and whom says that the choice must be determined by the grammar of the clause within which this pronoun occurs. Who is the appropriate form for the subject of a sentence or clause: Who are you? The voters who elected him have not been disappointed. Whom is the objective form: Whom did you ask? To whom are we obliged for this assistance? This method of selecting the appropriate form is generally characteristic of formal writing and is usually followed in edited prose. In most speech and writing, however, since who or whom often occurs at the beginning of the sentence or clause, there is a strong tendency to choose who no matter what its function. Even in edited prose, who occurs at least ten times as often as whom, regardless of grammatical function. Only when it directly follows a preposition is whom more likely to occur than who: Mr. Erickson is the man to whom you should address your request. In natural informal speech, whom is quite rare. Who were you speaking to? is far more likely to occur than the “correct” To whom were you speaking? or Whom were you speaking to? However, the notion that whom is somehow more “correct” or elegant than who leads some speakers to make an inappropriate hypercorrection: Whom are you? The person whom is in charge has left the office. than none.

Word History and Origins

Origin of who¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hwā; cognate with Old High German hwer, Gothic hwas; akin to Greek tís, Irish cé, Latin quis, Latvian kas, Russian kto, Sanskrit ka

Word History and Origins

Origin of who¹

Old English hwā; related to Old Saxon hwē , Old High German hwer, Gothic hvas, Lithuanian kàs, Danish hvo

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. as who should say, Archaic. in a manner of speaking; so to say.

Example Sentences

Because that minimum-wage hike was a project of the federal government, and that means that you-know-who was for it.

From The Daily Beast

Meanwhile, they have devastated mental-health funding since you-know-who became president.

From The Daily Beast

Another doctor claimed that Afridi ran off with several WHO-supplied boxes of vaccines.

From The Daily Beast

So pondering this situation has got me thinking for the first time semi-seriously about you-know-who.

From The Daily Beast

On the other side, President Obama seems to have become Lord Voldemort to the Hollywood elite: He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

From The Daily Beast

O my people!Who crowd with greedy eyes round this my jewel,Poor ivory, token of his outward beauty—Oh!

From Project Gutenberg

From time to time they caught the grewsome head by the hair and shook it violently, shouting, Who-oo-oo!

From Project Gutenberg

Aveline-who-never-lied lies half stretched out upon a bench.

From Project Gutenberg

But Miss Wilson will not talk about the row, whatever it was, with the chance of goodness-knows-who coming in any minute.

From Project Gutenberg

Peter-who-lives-next-door came in this morning to display an infinitesimal, bandaged thumb.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• which