whenever

conj, adv — 7 senses

whenever

conj

UK /wəˈnɛvə/ · US /wəˈnɛvɚ/

Etymology From Middle English whan evere, whanne ever, whanne evere, whener, when ever; equivalent to when + ever.

1

At any time that.

  • Visit whenever you want to.
  • I did not see the program, but Mrs. Nixon told me that you were great on the Donahue Show. As you can imagine, she is an expert on politics and she predicts that whenever you decide to run for office you will be a winner!1987 December 21, Richard Nixon, Letters to Trump, Winning Team Publishing, published 2023, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 10:
2

At the (single) time that, no matter when.

  • Tomorrow I'll get up whenever the sun rises.
3

Every time that.

  • Whenever he has a pair of aces, his eyelids twitch.
  • Working around an ancient monument has meant having an archaeologist on site whenever there were excavations.2024 January 24, Peter Plisner, “Rising to the University challenge”, in RAIL, number 1001, page 61:
4

Regardless of the time that.

  • Income must be reported in the period in which it is earned, whenever payment is actually received.
  • Whenever I was a child, I lived in Arkansas.
Derived terms
whenever one turns around
Related terms
however, howsoever, whatever, whatsoever, wheresoever, wherever, whoever, whomever, whomsoever, whosoever, whyever, whysoever

whenever

adv

Etymology From Middle English whan evere, whanne ever, whanne evere, whener, when ever; equivalent to when + ever.

1

Dated, Interrogative When ever: emphatic form of when.

  • Whenever will I find time to finish that jigsaw?
2

Colloquial At any time.

  • Feel free to visit whenever.
Related terms
203 terms—, henceafter, henceforth, henceforward, henceforwards, hencefrom, hereabout, hereabouts, hereabove, hereafter, hereafters, hereagainst, hereamong, hereanent, hereat, hereaway, herebefore, hereby, herefor, herefore, hereforth, hereforward, hereforwards, herefrom, herehence, hereinabove, hereinafter, hereinbefore, hereinbelow, hereinelsewhere, hereinsoever, hereinto, hereinunder, heremid, hereof, hereon, hereout, hereover, herethrough, herethroughout, hereto, heretofore, hereunto, hereupon, herewith, herewithal, herewithin, herewithout, hitherto, hitherunto, hitherward, hitherwards, howbeit, however, howso, howsoever, howsomedever, howsomever, thataway, thatwise, thenceafter, thenceforth, thenceforward, thenceforwards, thencefrom, thenceout, thereabout, thereabouts, thereabove, thereacross, thereafter, thereafters, thereagain, thereagainst, therealong, thereamong, thereamongst, thereanent, therearound, thereat, thereaway, therebefore, therebeside, therebetween, therebeyond, thereby, therever, therefor, therefore, thereforth, therefrom, therehence, thereinabove, thereinafter, thereinbefore, thereinbelow, thereinto, thereinunder, theremid, thereof, thereon, thereout, thereover, theresoever, therethrough, therethroughout, thereto, theretofore, thereunto, thereup, thereupon, therewith, therewithal, therewithin, therewithout, thisaway, thiswise, thitherinsoever, thitherto, thitherward, thitherwards, whatever, whatso, whatsoever, whatsomedever, whatsomever, whatwise, whenabout, whenabouts, whenas, whenso, whensoever, whensomever, whenceafter, whencever, whenceforth, whenceforward, whencefrom, whenceward, whencewards, whereabout, whereabouts, whereabove, whereafter, whereafters, whereagainst, wherealong, whereamong, whereamongst, whereanent, wherearound, whereas, whereat, whereaway, wherebefore, wherebeside, wherebetween, wherebeyond, whereby, wherever, wherefor, wherefore, whereforth, wherefrom, wherehence, whereinabove, whereinafter, whereinbefore, whereinbelow, whereinsoever, whereinto, whereinunder, wheremid, whereof, whereon, whereout, whereover, whereso, wheresoever, wheresomever, wherethrough, wherethroughout, whereto, wheretofore, whereunto, whereup, whereupon, wherewith, wherewithal, wherewithin, wherewithout, whitherever, whitherinsoever, whitherso, whitherto, whithertofore, whitherward, whitherwards, whyever, whyfor, whyso, whysoever, 1. Scottish2. from Middle English mid3. old dialectal form

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.