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whene'er

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An archaic contraction of "whenever," meaning at whatever time or on any occasion that something occurs, fitting poetic meter.

Detailed Definition
Whene'er is a contracted poetic form of whenever. It is common in older verse but uncommon in modern everyday writing.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Whene’er your name on some chance lip may lie” means “whenever”; “Whene’er the blackbird calls, I think of home” gives an archaic lyric alternative to whenever; “Whene’er thou comest, bring the dawn” suits elevated or imitation-Romantic diction; “Whene’er the train slows, fields return” shows that the contraction can still work in modern verse
Additional Notes
This contracted poetic form is archaic in modern usage, so readers may not recognize it at once.; Found in the poem, Estrangement by William Watson
Also Known As
whenever at any time each time
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