Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗Reason.
Introducing a complete question. · With a negative, used rhetorically to make a suggestion. · Introducing a verb phrase (bare infinitive clause). · Introducing a noun or other phrase.
An exclamation used to express pleasant or unpleasant mild surprise, indignation, or impatience.
To ask (someone) the question "why?".
From Middle English why, from Old English hwȳ (“why”), from Proto-Germanic *hwī (“by what, how”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey, instrumental case of *kʷís (“who”), *kʷid (“what”). Cognate with Old Saxon hwī (“why”), hwiu (“how; why”), Middle High German wiu (“how, why”), archaic Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hvi (“why”), Norwegian Nynorsk kvi (“why”), Swedish vi (“why”), Faroese and Icelandic hví (“why”), Latin quī (“why”), Doric Greek πεῖ (peî, “where”), Ukrainian чи (čy, “if”), Polish czy, Czech či (“or”), Serbo-Croatian či (“if”). Compare Old English þȳ (“because, since, on that account, therefore, then”, literally “by that, for that”). See thy.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Root classification mention*kʷ-ine-pro
- Inherited-form mentionwhyenm
- Inherited-form mentionhwȳang · why
- Inherited-form mention*hwīgem-pro · by what, how
- Derivation mention*kʷeyine-pro
- Cognate mentionhwīosx · why
- Cognate mentionwiugmh
- Cognate mentionkvinn
- Cognate mentionvisv
- Cognate mentionquīla
- Cognate mentionчиuk
- Cognate mentionczypl
- Cognate mentiončics
- Cognate mentiončish
- Cognate mentionþȳang
This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "root",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*kʷ-"
},
"expansion": ""
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "why"
},
"expansion": "Middle English why"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "hwȳ",
"t": "why"
},
"expansion": "Old English hwȳ (“why”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*hwī",
"t": "by what, how"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *hwī (“by what, how”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*kʷey"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *kʷey"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "osx",
"2": "hwī",
"t": "why"
},
"expansion": "Old Saxon hwī (“why”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gmh",
"2": "wiu",
"3": "",
"4": "how, why"
},
"expansion": "Middle High German wiu (“how, why”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da",
"2": "-"
},
"expansion": "Danish"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nb",
"2": "-"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nn",
"2": "kvi",
"3": "",
"4": "why"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk kvi (“why”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "vi",
"3": "",
"4": "why"
},
"expansion": "Swedish vi (“why”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fo",
"2": "-"
},
"expansion": "Faroese"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "is",
"2": "-"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "quī",
"3": "",
"4": "why"
},
"expansion": "Latin quī (“why”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "grc-dor",
"2": "πεῖ",
"3": "",
"4": "where"
},
"expansion": "Doric Greek πεῖ (peî, “where”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "uk",
"2": "чи",
"3": "",
"4": "if"
},
"expansion": "Ukrainian чи (čy, “if”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "pl",
"2": "czy"
},
"expansion": "Polish czy"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "cs",
"2": "či",
"3": "",
"4": "or"
},
"expansion": "Czech či (“or”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sh",
"2": "či",
"3": "",
"4": "if"
},
"expansion": "Serbo-Croatian či (“if”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "þȳ",
"3": "",
"4": "because, since, on that account, therefore, then",
"lit": "by that, for that"
},
"expansion": "Old English þȳ (“because, since, on that account, therefore, then”, literally “by that, for that”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"why",
"why#Middle_English"
],
[
"hwȳ",
"hwy#Old_English"
],
[
"*hwī",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/hwī"
],
[
"*kʷey",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kʷey"
],
[
"*kʷís",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kʷís"
],
[
"*kʷid",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kʷid"
],
[
"hwī",
"hwi#Old_Saxon"
],
[
"hwiu",
"hwiu#Old_Saxon"
],
[
"wiu",
"wiu#Middle_High_German"
],
[
"hvi",
"hvi#Danish"
],
[
"kvi",
"kvi#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
],
[
"vi",
"vi#Swedish"
],
[
"hví",
"hví#Faroese"
],
[
"quī",
"qui#Latin"
],
[
"πεῖ",
"πεῖ#Ancient_Greek"
],
[
"чи",
"чи#Ukrainian"
],
[
"czy",
"czy#Polish"
],
[
"či",
"či#Czech"
],
[
"či",
"či#Serbo-Croatian"
],
[
"þȳ",
"þy#Old_English"
],
[
"thy",
"thy#English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"Reason."
],
"tags": [],
"recordId": "3741c97fee4f635a08f1f1762755c3ae5d30889c00f7dcc5803dc5c54c73c47d",
"rawRecordSha256": "9fc92fafdb428ae66d33a6ee354df8612387f3afff0eb0f40ceb7d8c2c6989b2",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 32823
},
{
"pos": "adv",
"glosses": [
"Introducing a complete question.",
"With a negative, used rhetorically to make a suggestion.",
"Introducing a verb phrase (bare infinitive clause).",
"Introducing a noun or other phrase."
],
"tags": [
"interrogative",
"not-comparable"
],
"recordId": "73ba048b7bc323b41abec74c0b22831e7d730c3b95072fef061eb61b1863d5dd",
"rawRecordSha256": "474d4d9f580065273943a1bbf758e5b59c3a7f8bde7fadbb290371849075ce71",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 32822
},
{
"pos": "intj",
"glosses": [
"An exclamation used to express pleasant or unpleasant mild surprise, indignation, or impatience."
],
"tags": [
"dated",
"literary"
],
"recordId": "8c56afeffb5cbb4034756b51d5e5b0790aa63f9c758c51a75b760189977d2018",
"rawRecordSha256": "6b5120fa0a71c0dabc8331bd7c5e65634c84718b08c1f1ce716e2e19f757e9a1",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 32824
},
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To ask (someone) the question \"why?\"."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive",
"transitive"
],
"recordId": "95dca2dd1172b7087e794489e7d95d6373cdb59b3d5b7e97583be44dd04c9a60",
"rawRecordSha256": "5d4f07eb96ef0348d4e8cd4e4b378b17f51e8bc71cdfc88012dff2e2b085ca7c",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 32825
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 2,
"glosses": 0
}
}