Whenne

Part of speech: conjunction, adverb

Definitions

1. An archaic form meaning at what time or on which occasion something happens ; from what place or source something comes, as used in older English
2. Old spelling used to ask at which moment something occurs ; also used in earlier English to mean from which place or origin
3. A Middle English adverb asking the time of an event ; it could also mean the place or source from which something originates

Etymology: "Whenne" is a Middle English spelling of "when," the question word for time. It descends from Old English "hwænne" and "hwanne," which were already used both to ask about time and to introduce a clause about it. Its family is much larger than its size suggests. "When" belongs to the same interrogative group as "who," "what," "where," and "why," all built on a Proto-Germanic stem "*hwa-" that marked questions. The same stem also appears in "whether," which comes from Old English "hwæðer" and was once a question about which of two things was meant. The "-ne" ending in "whenne" is an old adverbial suffix, visible in other Middle English adverbs such as "thenne" (then). Writers of the period spelled the word in many ways, including "whan," "whanne," and "whenne," and "whan" was especially common in Chaucer's verse. The final "-ne" eventually dropped away, leaving the modern spelling "when."