what?
poios asks what kind, which one, or what circumstance is in view in a question.
The attested use chiefly introduces questions about the authority, basis, time, or other circumstance of an action or event. It also asks which particular item is intended and what sort of thing, outcome, or standing is being considered.
Senses in use
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Questioning the applicable authority or circumstance · dominant
In questions about actions, the forms identify the authority or means under which something is done: Acts 4:7 asks about power or name, and Matthew 21:23 asks about the authority for Jesus' actions. The same interrogative pattern frames an unknown time in Matthew 24:42 and a basis or law in Romans 3:27; in these clauses the APB renders the questions with phrases such as "by what authority," "on what day," and "By what law?"
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Asking which particular item is intended · occasional
The term can focus a question on a particular member or set of items. In John 10:32 the question concerns the works shown, in Matthew 19:18 it concerns the commandments meant, and in Luke 24:19 it asks about the things under discussion; the APB renders these clauses "for which of them," "Which ones?" and "What things?"
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Asking what sort of thing or outcome · common
The forms also ask about the character or kind of a noun or result. In 1 Corinthians 15:35 the question concerns the body with which the dead come, while John 12:33 and John 21:19 concern the kind of death indicated; Acts 7:49 asks what kind of house could be built. The APB renders these clauses with "what kind of body," "the kind of death," and "What kind of house."
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB variously presents the interrogative with "what kind," "which," and phrases such as "by what authority" or "at what hour." These renderings reflect the surrounding questions, not a word-by-word alignment.