being on this or the closer side; nearer: the hither side of the meadow.
Idioms
hither and thither, in various quarters; here and there: They scurried hither and thither to escape the rain.
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.
Origin of hither
before 900;Middle English,Old Englishhider; cognate with Old Norsehethra,Latinciter on this side
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.
Also, hither and yon. Here and there, as in I've been wandering about, hither and thither, or Ruth went hither and yon, searching for her sister. These old words for “here” and “there” are rarely heard outside these expressions, which themselves may be dying out. [c. a.d. 725]