whole
pronunciation
How to pronounce whole in British English:
UK [həʊl]
How to pronounce whole in American English:
US [hoʊl]
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- Noun:
- all of something including all its component elements or parts
- an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity
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- Adjective:
- including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete
- (of siblings) having the same parents
- exhibiting or restored to vigorous good health
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- Adverb:
- to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (`whole' is often used informally for `wholly')
Word Origin
- whole
- whole: [OE] Whole is at the centre of a tightlyknit family of English words descended from prehistoric Germanic *khailaz ‘undamaged’ (the other members – hail ‘salute’, hale, hallow, heal, health, and holy – have have branched off in different semantic directions, but whole has stayed fairly close to its source). The Germanic form, which also produced German heil, Dutch heel, and Swedish and Danish hel, went back to an Indo-European *qoilos, source also of Russian celyj ‘whole’ and Welsh coel ‘good omen’. Hale [13] originated as a northern variant of whole (whose wh- spelling emerged in the 16th century).The compound wholesome was probably formed in Old English, but it is not recorded until the 12th century.=> hail, hale, hallow, heal, health, holy
- whole (adj.)
- Old English hal "entire, whole; unhurt, uninjured, safe; healthy, sound; genuine, straightforward," from Proto-Germanic *haila- "undamaged" (cognates: Old Saxon hel, Old Norse heill, Old Frisian hal, Middle Dutch hiel, Dutch heel, Old High German, German heil "salvation, welfare"), from PIE *kailo- "whole, uninjured, of good omen" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic celu "whole, complete;" see health). The spelling with wh- developed early 15c. The sense in whole number is from early 14c. Whole milk is from 1782. On the whole "considering all facts or circumstances" is from 1690s. For phrase whole hog, see hog (n.).
- whole (n.)
- "entire body or company; the full amount," late 14c., from whole (adj.).
Example
- 1. How is the internet doing as a whole ?
- 2. The whole world is watching .
- 3. But it is not the whole story .
- 4. The first ingredient ideally should be whole wheat .
- 5. The whole thing was a complete joke .