WHATEVER


Meaning of WHATEVER in English

I. (ˈ) ̷ ̷| ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ pronoun

Etymology: Middle English, from what (I) + ever

1.

a. : anything that : everything that

take whatever you want

whatever Earth, all-bearing mother, yields — John Milton

b. : no matter what

seeing only his faults, and seeing them as unforgivable in his case whatever they may be elsewhere — C.H.Sykes

whatever the cause, this animosity grew deeper and deeper — E.V.Burkholder

c. : anything at all : any of various other things that might also be mentioned : what not

any appliance — stove, lantern, or whatever — that is fueled by gasoline — New Yorker

until you find your buffalo or rhinoceros or whatever — Alan Moorehead

a marriage contract — whether it is monogamous or polygamous or whatever — Weston La Barre

workers constantly walk in … arguing, complaining, or whatever — Time

d. : something similar but hard to identify or classify with certainty

had lain abed some days with the measles or whatever — Mary Austin

wouldn't have had a moustache when a small boy or whatever — Henry James †1916

2. : what I 1a(1) — used in questions expressing astonishment or perplexity

whatever do you mean by that

II. adjective

Etymology: Middle English, from what (III) + ever

1.

a. : any … that : all … that

and buy peace … on whatever terms could be obtained — C.S.Forester

have provided most of the backbone for whatever musical tradition we have — Virgil Thomson

b. : no matter what

by whatever circumstances he had been led to a hatred of the slave power and a heightened devotion to the Union, the change was one which in a measure transformed him — W.J.Ghent

2.

a. : any … at all

men and women of whatever scholastic training or none at all — Alvin Johnson

b. : being in existence : of any kind at all — used for emphasis after the substantive it modifies

any language whatever — W.D.Preston

no damage whatever — A.T.Weaver

the most entrancing young girl whatever — Carl Van Doren

III. adverb

Etymology: what (II) + ever

: in any case

but how far could I trust them, and in what way were they different from the trustees? Whatever, I was committed; I'd learn in the process of working with them, I thought — Ralph Ellison

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.