English Explanatory Dictionary

whither

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adv
  1. Interrogative senses.
  2. To what place; where.
  3. To what (future) cause, condition or state, reason, etc.; where, where next; also (obsolete) to what extent; how far.
  4. Relative senses.
  5. To which place; also (after a noun denoting a place) to which.
  6. To the place in or to which.
  7. In or to any place to which; to whatever place; wherever.
noun
  1. A place to which someone or something goes; also, a condition to which someone or something moves.
verb
  1. To cause (someone) to hurry; to hasten, to hurry.
  2. To throw (something) forcefully; to hurl; also, to beat, to thrash.
  3. To shake (vigorously); to tremble.
  4. To move quickly, to rush, to whiz; also, to make a rushing sound; to whizz.
  5. Of the wind: to blow loudly and vigorously; to bluster; also, of an animal, etc.: to make a loud noise; to bellow, to roar.
noun
  1. A state of rushed action; a haste, a hurry; also, a state of anger or excitement.
  2. A forceful blow or hit.
  3. An act of shaking (vigorously); a shiver, a tremble; also, a slight bout of discomfort or illness.
  4. The sound of something moving quickly; a rush, a whiz.
  5. A gust of wind; a bluster.

Pronunciation

/ˈwɪðəː/ [ˈwɪðəː] /ˈʍɪðəː/ [ˈʍɪðəː] /ˈwɪðɚ/ [ˈwɪðɚ] ~ [ˈwɪðɹ̩] En-us-whither.ogg /ˈʍɪðɚ/ [ˈʍɪðɚ] ~ [ˈʍɪðɹ̩]

Word forms

whither whithers whithering whithered wuther

Etymology

From Middle English whider (“to what place?; into or to which; to what place, where; no matter where, to wherever”), from Old English hwider, hwæder (“to what place, where”), from Proto-Germanic *hwadrê (“to what place, where”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷos (“what; which”), from *kʷ- (the primary interrogative root).

Synonyms

whithersoever

Antonyms

whence

Related words

Modern wordPreposition here there where to hither thither from hence thence whence

Derived words

anywhither elsewhither everywhither nowhither somewhither whither away whitherever whithersoever whitherto whitherward whitherwards

Translations

Arabic: إِلَى أَيْنَ Asturian: ú Asturian: aú Asturian: onde Asturian: ónde Belarusian: куды́ Bulgarian: накъде́ Chinese Mandarin: 哪裡 /哪里 Chinese Mandarin: 哪兒 /哪儿 Czech: kam Danish: hvorhen Dutch: waarheen Dutch: werwaarts Esperanto: kien Faroese: hvagar Finnish: minne Finnish: kunne French: où German: wohin Gothic: 𐍈𐌰𐌳𐍂𐌴 Gothic: 𐍈𐌰𐌸 Ancient Greek: ᾗ Ancient Greek: οἷ Ancient Greek: ποῖ Hebrew: לְאָן Hungarian: hova Hungarian: hová Hungarian: merrefelé Icelandic: hvert Ingrian: kuhu Ingrian: kunne Ingrian: mihe Italian: a dove Japanese: どこへ Korean: 어디 Korean: 어디에 Australian Kriol: wijei Latin: quō Latvian: kur Latvian: kurp Macedonian: каде Macedonian: накаде Norwegian Bokmål: hvor Norwegian Bokmål: hvor hen Norwegian Nynorsk: kor Norwegian Nynorsk: kvar Norwegian Nynorsk: kvart Church Slavic: ꙗмѡ Church Slavic: камѡ Old English: hwæder Pannonian Rusyn: кадзи Polish: dokąd Portuguese: aonde Portuguese: onde Portuguese: para onde Romanian: încotro Russian: куда́ Serbo-Croatian: ка̏мо Serbo-Croatian: ку̀да Serbo-Croatian: kȁmo Serbo-Croatian: kùda Slovak: kam Slovene: kam Spanish: adónde Spanish: adonde Swedish: vart Swedish: varthän Swedish: vartill
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