who
who \(')hu:, u:\ pn [ME, fr. OE hwa-; akin to OHG hwer, interrog. pron.,
who, L q]uis, Gk tis, L qui, rel. pron., who 1: what or which person or
persons - used as an interrogative {~ was elected president} {find out ~
they are}; used by speakers on all ecuational levels and by many reputable
writers, though disapproved by some grammarians, as the object of a verb or
a following preposition {~ did I see but a Spanish lady -Padraic Colum} {do
not know ~ the message is from -G.K. Chesterton} 2: the person or persons
that : WHOEVER 3: - used as a function word to introduce a relative
clause; used esp. i n reference to persons {my father, ~ was a lawyer} but
also in reference to groups {a generation ~ had known nothing but war -R.B.
West} or to animals {dogs ~ ... fawn all over tramps -Nigel Balchin} or to
inanimate objects esp. with the implication that the reference is really to
a person {earlier sources ~ maintain a Davidic ancestry -F.M. Cross}
archaic : as one that : as if someone archaic : so to speak : the
identity of or the noteworthy facts about each of a number of perso ns - as
who