| relative pronoun |
| Definition:
A pronoun that connects a relative clause to another part of a sentence. Note: The English relative pronouns are that, who, whom, whose, which, where, when, and why |
| Example:
(1) the man who laughed (2) the woman that I love (3) I don't know when I'll come (4) She doesn't know where she's going. |
| Etymology:
The word relative derives via Old French from the Late Latin relativus, having reference or relation. Note: When the word relative entered the English language (circa the 14th century), it specifically denoted the relative pronoun. The first recorded citation for the word in the sense "person from the same family" is from several centuries later (1657). |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The phrase relative pronoun's first OED citation is from 1530: "Of the pronownes relatives qui … serveth indifferently for all gendres and nombres." (Palsgr. 81) |