I. |(h)wethə(r) also (|)(h)wəth- pronoun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hwæther, hwether; akin to Old High German hwedar which of two, Old Norse hvārr, Gothic hwathar, Latin uter, Greek poteros, Sanskrit katara; all from a prehistoric Indo-European compound pronoun formed from the root of the pronoun represented by Sanskrit ka who by the addition of a comparative suffix -ter- — more at who
1. archaic : which one of the two : which II 1a
whether of them twain did the will of his father — Mt 21:31 (Authorized Version)
might get a great deal or a little, we did not know whether — Daniel Defoe
2. archaic : whichever one of the two : whichever I
put it into … glasses or pots, whether you have — Eliza Moxon
II. adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hwæther, hwether, from hwæther, hwether, pron.
1. obsolete : being which one of the two : which I 1a
the dispute whether life is to be preferred, the active or the contemplative — Henry Dodwell
2. obsolete : being whichever one of the two : whichever II
III. conjunction
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hwæther, hwether, from hwæther, hwether, pron.
1. — used as a function word followed usually by correlative or or by or whether to indicate (1) until the early 19th century a direct question involving alternatives
whether does doubting consist in embracing the affirmative or negative side of a question — George Berkeley
(2) an indirect question involving alternatives
hard to decide whether he should agree or whether he should raise certain objections
the question as to whether a man is really the best judge of his own life work or not — T.H.Savory
compelled to doubt whether universal schooling will suffice to curb our evil instincts — A.L.Guérard
(3) alternative conditions or possibilities
a material form, whether animate or inanimate — J.G.Frazer
I was of two minds whether to go or stay — Helen Eustis
passing judgment on whether or not a given school was performing satisfactorily — J.B.Conant
see me no more, whether he be dead or no — Shakespeare
the undergraduate, whether he be a concentrator in the sciences, the humanities, or the social sciences — General Education in a Free Society
2. : either — used with correlative or
aimed to win whether by hook or crook
seated him next to her whether by accident or design
3. obsolete : wherever , if
charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail — 1 Cor 13:8 (Authorized Version)
IV. ˈhw]ethə(r) also ˈw] or ]əth-\ noun
( -s )
: a choice between alternatives
considering all the whys and whethers of the matter