whatten en · PRON
Pronunciation
- /wɑtən/
- /wɒtən/
Etymology
Originally a contraction of what kind (of) (the DSL traces the Scots cognate back to Middle English whatkin, whatkyn, but the MED's only example is of the two-word collocation what kyn), later used in place of bare what.
Meanings
-
(Ireland, Northern-England, Scotland, archaic, dialectal) What.
For quotations using this term, see Citations:whatten.