Online Etymology Dictionary

whenever (adv.): late 14c., from when + ever.
where (adv.): Old English hwær, hwar, from Proto-Germanic *khwar (cf. Old Saxon hwar, Old Norse hvar, Old Frisian hwer, Middle Dutch waer, Old High German hwar, German wo, Gothic hvar "where"), from PIE interrogative base *qwo- (see who).
whereabout (adv.): c.1300 as an interrogatory word, from where + about.
whereabouts (adv.): "in what place," mid-15c., from whereabout + adverbial genitive -s. The noun is recorded from 1795.
whereas (conj.): mid-14c., "where;" early 15c., "in consideration of the fact that," from where + as.
whereby (adv.): c.1200, from where + by.
wherefore (adv.): c.1200, hwarfore, from where + for. Cf. Dutch waarvoor, Old Norse hvar fyrir, Swedish varfor.
wherein (adv.): early 13c., from where + in. Cf. Dutch waarin, German worin, Swedish vari, Danish hvori.
whereof (adv.): c.1200, from where + of. Cf. Swedish hveraf, Danish hvoraf, Dutch waarvan.
whereupon (conj.): c.1300, from where + upon.
wherever (adv.): late 13c., ware euere, from where + ever.
wherewithal (adv.): "means by which," 1530s, from where + withal. The noun is first recorded 1809.
whet (v.): Old English hwettan, from Proto-Germanic *khwatjanan (cf. Old Norse hvetja "to sharpen, encourage," Middle Low German, Middle Dutch wetten, Old High German wezzan, German wetzen "to sharpen," Gothic ga-hvatjan "to sharpen, incite"), from an adjective represented by Old English hwæt "brave, bold," Old Saxon hwat "sharp," from Proto-Germanic *khwataz, from PIE root *qwed- "sharp" (cf. Sanskrit codati "incites," literally "sharpens"). Figurative sense was in Old English.
whether (conj.): Old English hwæðer, hweðer "which of two, whether," from Proto-Germanic *khwatharaz (cf. 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 (cf. 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. Phrase whether or not (also whether or no) recorded from 1650s.
whetstone (n.): Old English hwetstan; see whet + stone (n.).
whew: exclamation of astonishment, etc., early 15c., a whistling sound, of imitative origin.
whey (n.): Old English hwæg "whey," from Proto-Germanic *khwaja- (cf. Middle Dutch wey, Dutch wei), of unknown origin.
which (pron.): Old English hwilc (West Saxon) "which," short for hwi-lic "of what form," from Proto-Germanic *khwilikaz (cf. Old Saxon hwilik, Old Norse hvelikr, Swedish vilken, Old Frisian hwelik, Middle Dutch wilk, Dutch welk, Old High German hwelich, German welch, Gothic hvileiks "which"), from *khwi- "who" (see who) + *likan "body, form" (cf. Old English lic "body;" see like (adj.)). In Middle English used as a relative pronoun where Modern English would use who, as still in the Lord's Prayer. Old English also had parallel forms hwelc and hwylc, which disappeared 15c.
whichever (pron.): late 14c., from which + ever.
whicker (v.): 1650s, "snigger," imitative (cf. snicker). As imitative of a sound made by a horse, from 1753. As the sound of something beating the air, from 1920. Related: Whickered; whickering.
whiff (n.): 13c., weffe "foul scent or odor," of imitative origin. Modern form became popular late 16c. with tobacco smoking, probably influenced by whiffle "blow in gusts or puffs" (1560s). The verb in the baseball slang sense "to swing at a ball and miss" first recorded 1913.
whiffle (v.): "flicker or flutter as if blown by the wind," 1660s; see whiff. The noun meaning "something light or insignificant" (1670s) is preserved in whiffle-ball (1931).
Whig: British political party, 1657, in part perhaps a disparaging use of whigg "a country bumpkin" (1640s); but mainly a shortened form of Whiggamore (1649) "one of the adherents of the Presbyterian cause in western Scotland who marched on Edinburgh in 1648 to oppose Charles I." Perhaps originally "a horse drover," from dialectal verb whig "to urge forward" + mare. In 1689 the name was first used in reference to members of the British political party that opposed the Tories. American Revolution sense of "colonist who opposes Crown policies" is from 1768. Later it was applied to opponents of Andrew Jackson (as early as 1825), and taken as the name of a political party (1834) that merged into the Republican Party in 1854-56.
[I]n the spring of 1834 Jackson's opponents adopted the name Whig, traditional term for critics of executive usurpations. James Watson Webb, editor of the New York Courier and Enquirer, encouraged use of the name. [Henry] Clay gave it national currency in a speech on April 14, 1834, likening "the whigs of the present day" to those who had resisted George III, and by summer it was official. [Daniel Walker Howe, "What Hath God Wrought," 2007, p.390]
Whig historian is recorded from 1924. Whig history is "the tendency in many historians ... to emphasise certain principles of progress in the past and to produce a story which is the ratification if not the glorification of the present." [Herbert Butterfield, "The Whig Interpretation of History," 1931]
while (n.): Old English hwile, accusative of hwil "a space of time," from Proto-Germanic *khwilo (cf. Old Saxon hwil, Old Frisian hwile, Old High German hwila, German Weile, Gothic hveila "space of time, while"), originally "rest" (cf. Old Norse hvila "bed," hvild "rest"), from PIE *qwi- "rest" (cf. Avestan shaitish "joy," Old Persian šiyatish "joy," Latin quies "rest, repose, quiet," Old Church Slavonic po-koji "rest"). Notion of "period of rest" became in Germanic "period of time."

Now largely superseded by time except in formulaic constructions (e.g. all the while). Middle English sense of "time spent in doing something" now only preserved in worthwhile and phrases such as worth (one's) while. As a conjunction (late Old English), it represents Old English þa hwile þe; form whiles is recorded from early 13c.; whilst is from late 14c., with excrescent -st as in amongst, amidst (see amid).
while (v.): "to cause (time) to pass without dullness, 1630s, earlier "to occupy or engage (someone or something) for a period of time" (c.1600), new formation from while (n.), not considered to be from Middle English hwulen "to have leisure," which is from a Germanic verb form of while (n.) (cf. German weilen "to stay, linger"). An association with phrases such as Shakespearean beguile the day, Latin diem decipere, French tromper le temps "has led to the substitution of WILE v by some modern writers" [OED] (see wile).
whilom (adv.): "at time past" (archaic), c.1200, from Old English hwilum "at times," dative case of while (q.v.). Cf. German weiland "formerly."
whilst (adv.): late 14c., from while (q.v.) with adverbial genitive -s-, and excrescent -t- (as in amongst, amidst).
whim (n.): 1640s, "pun or play on words," shortened from whimwham "fanciful object" (q.v.). Meaning "sudden notion, fancy, or idea" first recorded 1690s, probably a shortened form of whimsy.
whimper (v.): 1510s, probably of imitative origin, or from German wimmern "to whimper, moan." The noun is first recorded c.1700. Related: Whimpered; whimpering.
whimsical (adj.): 1650s, from whimsy. Related: Whimsically.
whimsy (n.): c.1600, probably related to whimwham.
whimwham (n.): "whimsical device, trifle," 1520s, of unknown origin; perhaps from Scandinavian (cf. Old Norse hvima "to let the eyes wander," Norwegian kvima "to flutter"), or else an arbitrary native formation (cf. flim-flam).
whine (v.): Old English hwinan "to whiz or whistle through the air" (only of arrows), also hwinsian "to whine" (of dogs), ultimately of imitative origin (cf. Old Norse hvina "to whiz," German wiehern "to neigh"). Meaning "to complain in a feeble way" is first recorded 1520s. Related: Whined; whining.
whine (n.): 1630s, from whine (v.).
whiney (adj.): also whiny, from whine + -y (2).
whinge (v.): "to complain peevishly," British, informal or dialectal, ultimately from the northern form of Old English hwinsian, from Proto-Germanic *khwinisojan (cf. Old High German winison, German winseln), from root of Old English hwinan "to whine" (see whine (v.)). Related: Whinged; whinging.
whinner: c.1700, frequentative of whine.
whinny (v.): 1520s, probably related to whine and ultimately imitative (cf. Latin hinnire).
whip (v.): mid-13c., wippen "flap violently," from Proto-Germanic *wipp- (cf. Danish vippe "to raise with a swipe," Middle Dutch, Dutch wippen "to swing," Old High German wipf "swing, impetus"), from PIE *wib- "move quickly." The cookery sense is from 1670s. Related: Whipped; whipping. Whipping boy first recorded 1640s; whipping block is from c.1877. Whip-saw is attested from 1530s; whip snake first recorded 1774.
whip (n.): early 14c., from whip (v.). In parliamentary use from 1850 (the verb in this sense is recorded from 1742), from the sense in fox-hunting. The parliamentary whip's duty originally was to ensure the attendance of party members on important occasions.
whiplash (n.): 1570s, "the lash of a whip," from whip (n.) + lash (n.). The injury caused by sudden head motion so called by 1955, in reference to the notion of moving to and fro like a cracking whip. The verb in this sense is recorded by 1971.
whippersnapper (n.): 1670s, apparently a "jingling extension" [OED] of *whip-snapper "a cracker of whips," or perhaps an alteration of snipper-snapper (1590s). Cf. also late 16c. whipperginnie, a term of abuse for a woman.
whippet (n.): small, fast type of dog, c.1600, probably from whip (v.) in the sense of "move quickly" + diminutive suffix -et Used earlier (1540s) in reference to "a brisk, nimble woman."
whippoorwill (n.): 1709, imitative of its cry.
whir (v.): c.1400, Scottish, "fling, hurl," probably from Old Norse hvirfla, frequentative of hverfa "to turn" (see wharf). Cf. Danish hvirvle, Dutch wervelen, German wirbeln "to whirl." Related: Whirred; whirring.
whirl (v.): late 13c., probably from Old Norse hvirfla "to go round, spin," related to hvirfill "circle, ring, crown," and to Old English hweorfan "to turn" (see whir). Related: Whirled; whirling. Whirlybird "helicopter" is from 1951.
whirl (n.): early 15c., "flywheel of a spindle," from whirl (v.). The meaning "act of whirling" is recorded from late 15c.; figurative sense of "confused activity" is recorded from 1550s. Colloquial sense of "tentative attempt" is attested from 1884, American English.
whirligig (n.): mid-15c., a child's toy, from whirl (v.) + gig (see gig (n.1)). Meaning "anything in constant motion" is from 1580s; "fickle, flighty person" is from c.1600; as a type of water beetle, from 1713.
whirlpool (n.): 1520s, from whirl (v.) + pool (n.1). Old English had hwyrfepol and wirfelmere.
whirlwind (n.): mid-14c., from whirl (v.) + wind (n.), probably on model of Old Norse hvirfilvindr.