whomever, pron. literary.
(huːmˈɛvə(r))
Also poet. whome'er (-ˈɛə(r)).
[Orig. two words, whom and ever adv. 8 e.]
The objective case of whoever; as direct obj., or obj. of prep. (Less frequent than whomsoever.) a. As compound relative, or with correlative in principal clause (with constructions as in whoever 1): Any (one) whom.
| c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 4811 Wom euer þat he hitt, Þe heued to þe chinne he slitt. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints i. (Petrus) 17 To bind and louss quhowm-euer þou will. c 1470 Henry Wallace vii. 825 Quhom euir he hyt to ground brymly thaim bar. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 181 He maist cruellie murtherit quhomeuir he knew weil fauoured. 1750 Carte Hist. Eng. II. 775 Fear of death made him accuse whomever they pleased of treason. 1830 Pusey Hist. Enq. II. 270 Whomever these men once brand with this mark of shame, is regarded by the people as a denier of God. 1883 R. W. Dixon Mano ii. v. 80 Will ye not to that man some pity give Whomever dark temptations do assail? 1920 Beerbohm And Even Now 189 To impose his will on whomever he sees comfortably settled. |
¶ Misused for whoever as subject of relative clause preceded by a preposition.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 347 Cursing for sacrilegie in whomever þat reveþ þis rente. c 1449 Pecock Repr. ii. xi. 215 Y dare putte this into iugement of whom euer hath seen the pilgrimage doon. |
b. Introducing a qualifying clause (cf. whoever 2): No matter whom.
| 1762 in Tytler Mem. H. Home (1807) II. 7 They freely pursue the truth,..whomever she may oppose, whomever she may countenance. 1845 Newman's Lives Eng. Saints, Stephen Langton v. 69 John would have been glad to have been aided by the strong arm, to whomever it might belong. |