hwæt

See also: hƿæt

Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷos, *kʷod. Cognates include Old Frisian hwet (West Frisian wat), Old Saxon hwat (Low German wat), Dutch wat, Old High German hwaz (German was), Old Norse hvat (Danish hvad, Swedish vad), Gothic 𐍈𐌰 (ƕa). The Indo-European root also led to the Latin quod, Lithuanian kàd, and Irish cad.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /hwæt/, [ʍæt]

Pronoun

hwæt n

  1. what
  2. anything, something

Declension
Declension of hwā/hwæt
Masculine and feminine Neuter
Nominative hwā hwæt
Accusative hwone, hwæne hwæt
Genitive hwæs hwæs
Dative hwām, hwǣm hwām, hwǣm
Instrumental hwȳ, hwon hwȳ, hwon

Descendants

Interjection

hwæt

  1. what!, listen!, hark!, lo!
    • Hwæt! Wē Gār-Dena in ġēar-dagum / þēod-cyninga þrymm ġefrūġnon / hū þā æþelingas ellen fremedon. (Beowulf lines 1-3, edited and translated by Mountebank1)
      Listǃ We, of the gar-danes, in the days of yore, have heard of thede-kings' thrim, how those athelings did ellen(-deeds).
      Listen hereǃ We, the Spear-Danes, have heard the stories from time immemorial about the nation-kings' glory, about how those nobles performed courageous deeds.

Adverb

hwæt

  1. now, indeed

References
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