# whom

> English word · Pronoun · IPA /huːm/ · frequency rank #1,513

## Definitions
1. What person or people; which person or people.
2. What person or people; which person or people.
3. Used to refer to a previously mentioned person or people.
4. The person(s) whom; whomever.
5. Also used with names of collective nouns that are groups of people, especially singularly-named musical groups or sports teams.

## Etymology
From Middle English whom, wham, from Old English hwām, hwǣm, from Proto-Germanic *hwammai, dative case of *hwaz (“who, what”). Cognate with Scots wham (“whom”), German wem (“whom, to whom”), Danish hvem (“who, whom”), Swedish vem (“who, whom”).

## Easily confused with
- **wo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-wo)
- **why** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-why)
- **won** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-won)
- **wow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-wow)
- **woo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-woo)
- **woe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-woe)
- **WTO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-wto)
- **wot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-wot)
- **wop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-wop)
- **wor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-wor)
- **wok** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-wok)
- **wim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-wim)
- **WYO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-wyo)
- **wood** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-wood)
- **wool** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-wool)
- **worm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-worm)
- **womb** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-womb)
- **woof** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-woof)
- **whos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-whos)
- **whoo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whom-vs-whoo)

## Common misspellings (6)
`hwom`, `whhom`, `whmo`, `whomm`, `wohm`, `wwhom`

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