whole

Etymology

From Middle English hole (“healthy, unhurt, whole”), from Old English hāl (“healthy, safe”), from Proto-West Germanic *hail, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“whole, safe, sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *kóylos (“healthy, whole”). The spelling with wh-, introduced in the 15th century, was for disambiguation with hole, and was absent in Scots. Cognates Compare West Frisian hiel, Low German heel/heil, Dutch heel, German heil, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hel, Norwegian Nynorsk heil; also Welsh coel (“omen”), Breton kel (“omen, mention”), Old Prussian kails (“healthy”), Old Church Slavonic цѣлъ (cělŭ, “healthy, unhurt”). Related to hale, health, hail, hallow, heal, and holy.

adj

1. Entire, undivided.
   I ate a whole fish.
   During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant[…] 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond
   Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages. 2013-06-29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28
   1. Used as an intensifier.
      I brought a whole lot of balloons for the party. She ate a whole bunch of french fries.
      There, a huge blue heron stands sentry like a statue, eye on the surface, waiting for his next meal to wriggle by. A lone grassy hill overlooks it all, well above the flood line, big enough to pitch a whole mess of tents [on]. 2016, Rae Carson, Like a River Glorious, HarperCollins
      I'm thinking, thanks a whole fuck of a lot, Robert. You could have laid that on me weeks ago. 2011, Keith Maillard, Looking Good: Difficulty at the Beginning, Brindle and Glass
2. Sound, uninjured, healthy.
   He is of whole mind, but the same cannot be said about his physical state.
   Here, with one balm for many fevers found, / Whole of an ancient evil, I sleep sound. 1939, Alfred Edward Housman, Additional Poems, X, lines 5-6
3. (of food) From which none of its constituents has been removed.
   whole wheat; whole milk
4. (mining) As yet unworked.

adv

1. (colloquial) In entirety; entirely; wholly.
   I ate a fish whole!
   That's a whole other story.

noun

1. Something complete, without any parts missing.
   Meronym: part
   This variety of fascinating details didn't fall together into an enjoyable, coherent whole.
2. An entirety.