Whose

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /huːz/
• Rhymes: -uːz
• Homophones: who's

Origin

Genitive of who, from Old English hwæs, the genitive of hwa, from Proto-Germanic *hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷis

Full definition of whose

Pronoun

1. Of whom, belonging to whom; used as an interrogative pronoun.
   Whose wallet is this?
2. Of whom, belonging to whom; used as a relative pronoun.
   This is the man whose dog caused the accident.
   (=This man's dog caused the accident.)
• 1922, Ben Travers, A Cuckoo in the Nest Chapter 5, The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite....Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?
3. (formerly proscribed) Of which, belonging to which; used as a relative pronoun.
   We saw several houses whose roofs are falling off.
   (=The roofs are falling off several houses we saw.)