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Glite Dictionary
whoso

whoso

1 9.9
A word for anyone who does something, used in old texts
  • pronoun
  • Archaic
translation icon : cualquiera
  • "Whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me. "

Examples

  • And whoso believeth in me shall never die.

  • Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord. - Proverbs

    Fiction book (2001)

  • And whoso believeth in me shall never die.

    She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

  • But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the word of God perfected.

    Blog text (34)

  • Whoso reciteth them not hath truly failed to fulfill his pledge to the Covenant of God and His Testament.

    Blog text (23)

  • He that covereth his sins shall not prosper... but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them... shall have mercy.

    Fritz the Cat (1972)

  • Mat 24:15-21 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand).

    Blog text (17)

  • Whoso desireth the reward of the world, we bestow on him thereof; and whoso desireth the reward of the Hereafter, we bestow on him thereof.

    Blog text (20)

  • "Whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me."

  • And whoso disbelieves in it, those are they who are the losers.

Synonyms

whoever
vswhoso
∞ 1.0

Anyone who does something, no matter who they are

is older and sounds old-fashioned rather than modern
whosoever
vswhoso
  • Archaic
11 8.3

Any person, no matter who they are

is older and sounds old-fashioned while keeping identical meaning

Surface Forms

whoso subject case

Morphology

whoso = who + so (semi-transparent) = who + so

Formally composed of 'who' + 'so' meaning 'whoever', but the clitic '-so' is archaic and not a productive modern English morpheme, so the meaning is not fully obvious to learners.

Etymology

The word whoso comes from putting who and so together, so it literally meant 'anyone who'. So when you see whoso in old writing, read it as 'whoever' or 'anyone who'.