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My association with the words

whomsoever
whosoever

has been through the Bible, more modern day they have become

whomever
whoever

As an example, John 13:20

He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me. (King James Version)
he who receives whomever I send receives Me (New American Standard)

The New American Standard version is a more "modern" translation.

When and why did the "so" disappear?
I have tried searching, but can find when/why the change occurred.

Peter
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    Here's the full set of such words from the OED: however, howsoever, howsomever, ifsoever, whatever, whatsoever, whatsomever, whencesoever, whencever, whenever, whensoever, whensomever, whereinsoever, wheresoever, wheresomever, wherever, whethersoever, whichever, whichsoever, whilever, whithersoever, whoever, whomever, whomsoever, whomsomever, whosesoever, whosever, whosoever, whosomever, whyever. – tchrist Nov 06 '16 at 17:06
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    Warm welcome to ELU. The so still appears on "whatsoever" which means "at all" for emphasis in a negative sentence. I don't think it has disappeared yet but usage has declined over the years. , –  Nov 06 '16 at 17:15
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    It's been pinched to start sentences. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 06 '16 at 17:40
  • @EdwinAshworth "Pinched"? Shortened? – Peter Nov 06 '16 at 17:42
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    Nabbed. Appropriated. Sequestered. Filched. (I am not suggesting this for serious consideration.) – Edwin Ashworth Nov 06 '16 at 19:08
  • @EdwinAshworth: So, that's one of my pet peeves also. ;-) Much as my old-fogey ears can filter out superfluous Well,..., I find habitual So,... quite annoying. – Drew Nov 06 '16 at 20:12
  • @EdwinAshworth Quite so! You've overlooked 'trousered' in the scheme of things filched and the like. – Peter Point Nov 07 '16 at 04:28
  • Why the scare-quotes round 'modern'? I'd think they'd be better round the 'archaic' versions. If a modern translation is somehow less than acceptable, so is a translation into any language other than the original ones. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 07 '16 at 11:08
  • Related. – tchrist Feb 05 '23 at 04:06

1 Answers1

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Whosoever and whomsoever derive from the archaic Middle English pronouns "whoso, whomso". Their usage is still present but it is less common and formal. According to Ngram "whoever and whomever" have been more widely used since the mid 18th century.

  • whoso took such things into account was a fool’

    • archaic term for whoever

Whosoever:

  • pronoun;, (possessive whosesoever; objective whomsoever.)

Origin:

  • 1175-1225 - Middle English; From: whoso + ever

ODO

  • Thank you, but why the change? – Peter Nov 06 '16 at 20:20
  • @Peter - why in the mid of the 18th century writers stared to prefer whoever to whosoever is hard tell, maybe whosoever was considered more formal also at that time being commonly found in books like the Bibble for instance. –  Nov 06 '16 at 20:24