who

\ ˈhü

, ü \

Definition of who

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : what or which person or persons —used as an interrogativewho was elected?find out who they are —used by speakers on all educational levels and by many reputable writers, though disapproved by some grammarians, as the object of a verb or a following prepositionwho did I see but a Spanish lady— Padraic Columdo not know who 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 especially in reference to personsmy father, who was a lawyer but also in reference to groupsa generation who had known nothing but war— R. B. West or to animalsdogs who … fawn all over tramps— Nigel Balchin or to inanimate objects especially with the implication that the reference is really to a personearlier sources who maintain a Davidic ancestry— F. M. Cross —used by speakers on all educational levels and by many reputable writers, though disapproved by some grammarians, as the object of a verb or a following prepositiona character who we are meant to pity — The Times Literary Supplement (London)

as who

archaic : as one that : as if someone

as who should say

archaic : so to speak

who is who or who's who or who was who

: the identity of or the noteworthy facts about each of a number of persons

WHO

abbreviation

Definition of WHO (Entry 2 of 2)

World Health Organization

whom or who?: Usage Guide

Pronoun

Observers of the language have been predicting the demise of whom from about 1870 down to the present day. one of the pronoun cases is visibly disappearing—the objective case whom — R. G. White (1870) whom is dying out in England, where "Whom did you see?" sounds affected — Anthony Burgess (1980) Our evidence shows that no one—English or not—should expect whom to disappear momentarily; it shows every indication of persisting quite a while yet. Actual usage of who and whom—accurately described at the entries in this dictionary—does not appear to be markedly different from the usage of Shakespeare's time. But the 18th century grammarians, propounding rules and analogies, rejecting other rules and analogies, and usually justifying both with appeals to Latin or Greek, have intervened between us and Shakespeare. It seems clear that the grammarians' rules have had little effect on the traditional uses. One thing they have accomplished is to encourage hypercorrect uses of whom. whom shall I say is calling? Another is that they have made some people unsure of themselves. said he was asked to step down, although it is not known exactly who or whom asked him — Redding (Conn.) Pilot