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hither

[hith -er]
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adverb
  1. to or toward this place: to come hither.
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adjective
  1. being on this or the closer side; nearer: the hither side of the meadow.
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Idioms
  1. hither and thither, in various quarters; here and there: They scurried hither and thither to escape the rain.
  2. hither and yon, from here to over there, especially to a farther place; in or to a great many places: He looked hither and yon for the coin. She went hither and yon in search of an answer.
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Origin of hither

before 900; Middle English, Old English hider; cognate with Old Norse hethra, Latin citer on this side
Can be confusedhence hither thence thither whence whither yon (see usage note at whence)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hither

Historical Examples

  • It was Quicksilver; and he brought one hither, as well as the box.

    The Paradise of Children

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

  • The brindled cow, which has led us hither, will supply us with milk.

    Tanglewood Tales

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

  • Hither, then, Magua retired, when his labors of policy were ended.

    The Last of the Mohicans

    James Fenimore Cooper

  • Hither flocked merchants and traders from all parts of Europe.

    English Villages

    P. H. Ditchfield

  • Hither the crowd was already streaming, and hither the procession made its way.

British Dictionary definitions for hither

hither

adverb
  1. to or towards this place (esp in the phrase come hither)Also (archaic): hitherward, hitherwards
  2. hither and thither this way and that, as in a state of confusion
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adjective
  1. archaic, or dialect (of a side or part, esp of a hill or valley) nearer; closer
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Word Origin

Old English hider; related to Old Norse hethra here, Gothic hidrē, Latin citrā on this side, citrō
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hither

adv.

Old English hider, from Proto-Germanic *hideran (cf. Old Norse heðra "here," Gothic hidre "hither"), from Germanic demonstrative base *hi- (cf. he, here). Spelling change from -d- to -th- is the same evolution seen in father. Relation to here is the same as that of thither to there.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper