whate

Middle English

Alternative forms

• ȝwate, quate, qwate, wate, what
• hwate (Early Middle English)

Etymology

From Old English hwatu (“omen”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwatu (“warning”), from Proto-Germanic *hwatō (“incitement”); compare Icelandic hvöt (“urge, encouragement”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhwaːt(ə)/
• (dialectal) IPA^(key): /ˈxwaːt(ə)/, /ˈwaːt(ə)/

Noun

whate (uncountable) (poetic)

1. fortune, destiny, luck
2. (rare) divination, augury

References

• “whāte, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.