French word quoi comes from Proto-Indo-European *kʷ-, Proto-Indo-European *kʷe-, Proto-Indo-European *kʷo-, Latin ni, Latin what, and later Proto-Italic *kʷoi (Who, what (relative, indefinite).)
| Dictionary entry | Language | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| *kʷ- | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | |
| *kʷe- | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | |
| *kʷo- | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | |
| ni | Latin (lat) | Not, that not, unless; like ne in imperative and intentional clauses Not, if...not, unless- an absolutely negative particle like ne so only in combinations. |
| what | Latin (lat) | |
| *kʷey | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | |
| *kʷoi | Proto-Italic (itc-pro) | Who, what (relative, indefinite). |
| *kʷís | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | Which, what Who, what (interrogative). Who, which, that (relative). |
| quei | Old Latin (itc-ola) | (relative) who, what, that, which (interrogative) who, what, that, which. |
| *kʷis | Proto-Italic (itc-pro) | Who, what (interrogative). |
| qui | Latin (lat) | (interrogative) who, what, which (relative) who, that, which. |
| quoi | French (fra) | (colloquial) you know, like, y'know. (slang) aught, anything, something. What (oblique pronoun). |