What does whatso mean?
Whatso is an archaic English indefinite pronoun meaning “something” or “anything.” It belongs to the language of general relativity, in which “what” stands for the person or thing being considered; “so” strengthens or closes the expression. Related forms and compounds include “whatsoever” and “whosoever.” In modern English it is not part of ordinary vocabulary and should not be confused with the conversational contraction “what’s that,” which asks for the identity of something. A writer may encounter whatso in older literary texts, where it functions much like “something” in a clause such as “I know not whatso has happened.” Its modern use is therefore generally literary, archaic, or deliberately antique rather than standard everyday speech. Because the word is rare and its precise force can depend on context, it is best understood from its source text rather than treated as an exact general equivalent for “whatever.”
pronounAn archaic indefinite pronoun meaning “something” or “anything,” without specifying what is meant.
- An unspecified thing or matter, equivalent to “something” or “anything.”
"No scholar could say whatso lay behind the enmity."
"The traveller would not tell them whatso lay beyond the hill."
"I never knew whatso had prompted the warning."
Unlike its modern appearance, “whatso” is not usually a question; it is an old way of saying “something” or “anything.”
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of whatso
Whatso developed from the Middle English phrase “what so,” formed from Old English hwæt (“what”) and swā (“so”). The earlier phrase could function as a relative expression meaning “whatever” or as an indefinite expression meaning “something” or “anything.” Reducing that phrase to a single word produced the archaic form whatso, and related constructions developed into whatsoever and whosoever.
How whatso is actually used
Archaic and literary; in present-day English it would usually be replaced by something, anything, or whatever.
Easily confused with whatso
Whatso is an archaic pronoun meaning “something” or “anything,” whereas whatever is its still-common modern equivalent.
Whatso is an old indefinite pronoun, while “what's that” is a modern question asking for the identity of something.