• conj. 是否；不论
• pron. 两个中的哪一个

来自古英语hwether,两人中的一个，是否，hwe-,谁，-ther,比较级后缀，表加强，词源同other,interior,exterior。引申义到底是谁，两个中的谁，是否。词义演变比较yesterday,day.

whether

whether: [OE] Whether was formed in the prehistoric Germanic period from the interrogative base *khwa-, *khwe- (source of English what, who, etc) and the comparative suffix *-theraz, which also occurs in English other. Its Germanic relatives include German weder ‘neither’ and Swedish hvar ‘each’. English either goes back to a Germanic compound formed from the ancestors of ay and whether.
=> either, other

whether (conj.)

Old English hwæðer, hweðer "which of two, whether," from Proto-Germanic *gihwatharaz (cognates Old Saxon hwedar, Old Norse hvarr, Gothic huaþar, Old High German hwedar "which of the two," German weder "neither"), from interrogative base *khwa- "who" (see who) + comparative suffix *-theraz (cognate compounds 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"). 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.

1. The key issue was whether the four defendants acted dishonestly.

关键问题是4名被告是否存在欺诈行为。

来自柯林斯例句

2. It's not a case of whether anyone would notice or not.

这不是会不会有人注意到的问题。

来自柯林斯例句

3. Whether such properties are a good deal will depend on individual situations.

这样的地产是否可获得大笔收益还要视具体情形而定。

来自柯林斯例句

4. It remains to be seen whether her parliamentary colleagues will agree.

她的国会同僚是否同意，现在还无从知晓。

来自柯林斯例句

5. It was touch and go whether we'd go bankrupt.

我们是否会破产还很难说。

来自柯林斯例句