English

when

/ˈwɛn/
At what time? At which time? Upon which occasion or circumstance? Used to introduce direct or indirect questions about time.

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    Origin

    From Middle English when(ne), whan(ne), from Old English hwonne, from Proto-West Germanic *hwannē, from Proto-West Germanic *hwan, from Proto-Germanic *hwan (“at what time, when”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís (interrogative base).

    Cognate with Scots whan (“when”), Dutch wanneer (“when”), wan (“when”) and wen (“when, if”), Low German wannehr (“when”), wann (“when”) and wenn (“if, when”), German wann (“when”) and wenn (“when, if”), Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌽 (ƕan, “when, how”), Latin quandō (“when”). More at who.

    Interjection sense: a playful misunderstanding of "say when" (i.e. say something / speak up when you want me to stop) as "say [the word] when".

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • rootProto-Indo-European*kʷ-
    • inheritedMiddle Englishwhen
      • inheritedOld Englishhwonne
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*hwannē
          • inheritedProto-West Germanic*hwan
            • inheritedProto-Germanic*hwan “at what time, when”
              • derivedProto-Indo-European*kʷís

    Related: Scots whan, Dutch wanneer, Low German wannehr, German wann, Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌽, Latin quandō

    Sources