# which

> English word · Conjunction · IPA /wɪt͡ʃ/ · frequency rank #59

## Definitions
1. And.

## Etymology
From Middle English which, hwic, wilche, hwilch, whilk, hwilc, from Old English hwelċ (“which”), from Proto-Germanic *hwilīkaz (“what kind”, literally “like what”), derived from *hwaz. By surface analysis, who + like.
Cognates include Scots whilk (“which”), West Frisian hokker (“which”), Dutch welk (“which”), Low German welk (“which”), German welcher (“which”), Danish hvilken (“which”), Swedish vilken (“which”), Norwegian hvilken (“which”), Icelandic hvílíkur (“which”).

## Easily confused with
- **WIC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-wic)
- **with** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-with)
- **wish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-wish)
- **whip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-whip)
- **wick** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-wick)
- **whim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-whim)
- **whit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-whit)
- **whig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-whig)
- **whiz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-whiz)
- **wich** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-wich)
- **while** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-while)
- **white** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-white)
- **witch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-witch)
- **whine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-whine)
- **whiff** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-whiff)
- **whisk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-whisk)
- **winch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-winch)
- **whirl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-whirl)
- **whiny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-whiny)
- **watch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/watch-vs-which)

## Common misspellings (8)
`hwich`, `whcih`, `whhich`, `whicch`, `whichh`, `whihc`, `wihch`, `wwhich`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/which