Definition of Which

What does the word Which mean?

• part of speech: adjective

  1. Adj.: (a) interrog., asking for selection from alternatives conceived as limited in number or known (cf. WHAT; w. way shall we go?; say w. chapter you prefer): (b) rel., = &, now, although, since, &c., this or these, now rare exc. with n. serving to sum up details of a compound or vague antecedent (a smile& a sixpence, w. equipment is within most people\'s reach, will suffice; w. things are an allegory; the w., archaic for w.). 2. Pron.; (a) interrog. = w. person (s), w. thing (s), (w. of you am I to thank for this?; say w. you would like best; w. is w.?, w. of two &c. given persons &c. corresponds to one of given descriptions &c., & w. to another?): (b) rel. (cf. THAT), used to convert what would in the simplest grammar be an independent sentence into a subord. clause by being substituted for a noun expressed in it after being expressed or implied in the sentence to which it is to be subordinated. = w. person or persons (archaic). w. thing (s) as modified by context, (Our Father, w. art in heaven; the river w., or better that, flows through London; the meeting, w. was held in the Park, was a failure; he said he saw me there, w. was a lie; occasionally in clause preceding antecedent, as moreover, w. you will hardly credit, he was not there himself; the w., archaic for w.; in the possessive case whose is sometimes for convenience preferred to the usual of which, as the only place whose supply of baths is adequate). [old English]