whatsoever

English

Alternative forms

• what-so-ever
• whatsomever (archaic)
• whatsoe're (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English whatsoever. By surface analysis, what +‎ so +‎ ever.

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], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, 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, 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”, in A Place to Belong, Deseret Book, →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, quelconque (fr)
• German: überhaupt (de)
• Hebrew: כְּהוּא זֶה (he) (kehú ze)
• Hungarian: egyáltalán (hu)
• Italian: qualsivoglia (it), di sorta
• 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), som helst (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, 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, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “whatsoever”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.