'whensoever' originates from Middle English, combining 'when' with 'soever', where 'when' meant 'at what time' and 'soever' added an emphatic or indefinite sense.

'whensoever' changed from the Middle English word 'whensoeuer' and eventually became the modern English word 'whensoever'.

Initially, it meant 'at any time that', and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.