Middle English word hwic comes from Proto-Indo-European *kʷ-, Proto-Indo-European *kʷe-, Proto-Indo-European *kʷo-, Proto-Germanic - līkaz, Proto-Germanic *hwi-, and later Proto-Germanic *hwilīkaz (What kind of, what sort of.)
| Dictionary entry | Language | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| *kʷ- | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | |
| *kʷe- | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | |
| *kʷo- | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | |
| - līkaz | Proto-Germanic (gem-pro) | |
| *hwi- | Proto-Germanic (gem-pro) | |
| *kʷód, kʷod | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | |
| *kʷís | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | Who, what (interrogative). Who, which, that (relative) Which, what. |
| *hwaz | Proto-Germanic (gem-pro) | (interrogative) who, what. (interrogative, in dative) whom. (interrogative, in genitive) whose. (interrogative, in instrumental) with whom, with what, how, in what way. |
| *hwilīkaz | Proto-Germanic (gem-pro) | What kind of, what sort of. |
| hwilċ | Old English (ang) | |
| hwilc | Old English (ang) | Which. |
| hwilch | Middle English (enm) |