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Origin and history of whether

whether(conj., adv.)

"which, of two; which one," Old English hwæðer, hweðer "which of two; whichever," implying choice of alternatives, from Proto-Germanic *gihwatharaz. This is reconstructed to be from the interrogative base *khwa- "who" (from PIE root *kwo-, stem of relative and interrogative pronouns) + comparative suffix *-theraz.

Its comparative form is either. Also in Old English as a pronoun and adjective. Phrase whether or not (also whether or no) recorded from 1650s.

There are cognate compounds in Old Saxon hwedar, Old Norse hvarr, Gothic huaþar, Old High German hwedar "which of the two," German weder "neither;" and beyond Germanic in Sanskrit katarah, Avestan katara-, Greek poteros, Latin uter "which of the two, either of two," Lithuanian katras "which of the two," Old Church Slavonic koteru "which."

Entries linking to whether

either

Old English ægðer, contraction of æghwæðer (pron., adv., conj.) "each of two, both," from a "always" (see aye (adv.)) + ge- collective prefix + hwæðer "which of two, whether" (see whether). Cognate with Old Frisian eider, Dutch ieder, Old High German eogiwedar, German jeder "either, each, every").

Modern sense of "one or the other of two" is late 13c. Adverbially, for emphasis, "in any case, at all," especially when expressing negation, by 1828. Use of either-or to suggest an unavoidable choice between alternatives (1931) in some cases reflects Danish enten-eller, title of an 1843 book by Kierkegaard.

neither(conj., adv.)

"not one or the other," Middle English neither, naither, nether, from Old English nawþer, contraction of nahwæþer, literally "not of two," from na "no" (from PIE root *ne- "not") + hwæþer "which of two" (see whether). Spelling altered c. 1200 by association with either. Paired with nor from c. 1300; earlier with ne. Meaning "not in any case, in no case, not at all" is from 1550s. Also used in late Old English as a pronoun. As an adjective, "not either," mid-14c.

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Trends of whether

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

neuter
late 14c., neutre, in grammar, of nouns, pronouns, etc., "neither masculine nor feminine in gender," also of verbs, "having middle or reflexive meaning, neither active nor passive," from Latin neuter "of the neuter gender," literally "neither one nor the other," from ne- "not, no
obscene
In modern U.S. law, the definition hinged on "whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the...California": The basic guidelines for the trier of fact must be: (a) whether 'the average person, applying contemporary...community standards' would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, (b) whether the work depicts...or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (c) whether...
locale
The word's right to exist depends upon the question whether the two indispensable words locality & scene give all the...shades of meaning required, or whether something intermediate is useful....
if
notwithstanding that," Old English gif (initial g- in Old English pronounced with a sound close to Modern English -y-) "if, whether...Proto-Germanic *ja-ba (source also of Old Saxon, Old Norse ef, Old Frisian gef, Old High German ibu, German ob, Dutch of "if, whether...
matter-of-fact
Thus, the questions whether a man executed a contract, and whether he was intoxicated at the time, relate to matters of fact...; whether, if so, he is bound by the contract, and what the instrument means, are matters of law....
forecast
Whether we are to say forecast or forecasted in the past tense & participle depends on whether we regard the verb or...
catapult
Its construction is nowhere explained with any fullness, and it is uncertain whether its action was that of a crossbow or...whether springs were the propelling power....
participle
late 14c., in grammar, "a noun-adjective, a word having the value of an adjective as a part of speech but so regularly made from a verb and associated with it in meaning and construction as to seem to belong to the verb," from Old French participle in the grammatical sense (13c.)
clout
Old English clut "lump of something," also "patch of cloth put over a hole to mend it," from Proto-Germanic *klutaz (source also of Old Norse klute "kerchief," Danish klud "rag, tatter," Frisian klut "lump," Dutch kluit "clod, lump"); perhaps related to clot (v.). In later use "a
necessary
late 14c., necessarie, "needed, required; essential, indispensable; such as must be, that cannot be otherwise; not voluntary or governed by chance or free will," from Old French necessaire "necessary, urgent, compelling" (13c.), and directly from Latin necessarius "unavoidable, i

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