whatso, pron. and a. arch., chiefly poet.
(ˈhwɒtsəʊ)
[ME. w(h)at so, quatso, hwat se, (Orm.) whattse, reduced form of OE. swá hwæt swá, early ME. swa hwet swa, generalized form of hwæt what pron.: see so adv. 17 d.]
1. a. pron. = whatever 2 a.
| c 1200 Ormin 426 Forr swa we don unnhaȝherrliȝ Whattse we don to gode. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1324 Oc abraham it wulde wel Quat-so god bad. c 1275 Lay. 25703 We leteþ him one don wat so [c 1205 Faren heu swa] he wolle. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 255, & quat so þy wylle is, we schal wyt after. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 359 What so we worchen in þis worlde,..For his sake þat it sente soþli we worchin. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles Prol. 36 Mekely to suffre what so him sente were. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 511 And thow mat me ony mair, cum efter quhat sa may, Thow and I sall dyntis deill. 1594 R. C[arew] Tasso (1881) 7 When Sire eternall..Lookes downe, and..in one vew, Comprizeth all what so the world can shew. 1622 Wither Faire-Virtue N 2 b, And, my Care, it addes not to What-so, others say, or doe. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc i. 70 And whatso He commands, that I must speak. 1876 Morris æneids xii. 182 Whatsoever God Is in the air, or whatso rules the blue sea with its rod. 1900 Beeching Confer. Bks. & Men Ded., Despatches, sermons,—whatso goes Into their brain comes out as prose. |
b. adj. = whatever 2 b.
| 1591 Spenser Virg. Gnat 682 And whatso other hearb..The ioyous Spring..brings forth..He planted there. 1868 Morris Earthly Par. I. Prol. 17 His fleet held whatso keel could swim From Jutland to Land's End. 1891 C. E. Norton Dante's Hell vii. 31 Whatso power he have. |
2. a. pron. = whatever 3 a.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 9036 Ne [er] þe gode þe wers to prais, Quat-so men o þe wick sais. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 382 Gawan I hatte, Þat bede þe þis buffet, quat-so bi-fallez after. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 128 Al worth as þow wolte, what so we dispute. 1457 Harding Chron. in Engl. Hist. Rev. (1912) Oct. 747 What so men gat couetyse noght hym fylde. a 1542 Wyatt Poems, Synce loue wyll nedes iii, Whatso befall, till that I sterve By proof full well it shall be known. 1600 Fairfax Tasso v. lxxviii, Loue calles it follie, what so wisdome saith. 1868 Morris Earthly Par. (1870) I. i. 445 And fearless will I enter here And meet my fate, whatso it be. 1870 Ibid. L'Envoi (1890) 444/1, I love thee, whatso time or men may say. |
† b. Of a person: Whoever. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 6555 What se [c 1275 wose] hæfde richedom, he hine makede wræcche mon. a 1225 Ancr. R. 66 Ancre, hwat se heo beo, alse muchel ase heo euer con & mei, holde hire stille. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 522 But it were any persone obstinat, What so he were, of heigh or lough estat Hym wolde he snybben. 1412 in Laing Charters (1899) 24 The forsaid lord or his ayris qwhat sa thai be for the tyme. 1565 J. Hall Crt. of Virtue 103 b, The poore man,..As well as he, What so he be, That ryches doth endue. |
c. adj. = whatever 3 b.
| 1867 Morris Jason vi. 456 Whatso thing the next day bring, Right merrily shall pass these coming hours. |
3. adj. = whatever 4 a.
| 1902 A. Austin Crowning of Kingship ii, And, like the sea, let whatso tempests shrill, One, world-wide,..and free. |