Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

thither

[thith -er, th ith -]
adverb
  1. Also thith·er·ward [thith -er-werd, th ith -] /ˈθɪð ər wərd, ˈðɪð-/, thith·er·wards. to or toward that place or point; there.
Show More
adjective
  1. on the farther or other side or in the direction away from the person speaking; farther; more remote.
Show More

Origin of thither

before 900; Middle English, variant of Middle English thider, Old English, alteration of thæder (i from hider hither); akin to Old Norse thathra there, Gothic thathro thence, Sanskrit tátra there, thither
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 thither

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Here the guests were assembled, and thither we bent our steps.

    In the Valley

    Harold Frederic

  • It was true that Sidney was happy in his new home, and thither we must now trace him.

    Night and Morning, Complete

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton

  • Behind the gratings, the figures of women were moving hither and thither.

    Casanova's Homecoming

    Arthur Schnitzler

  • Thither came the Sheriff and was shown into the King's presence.

  • And she is borne hither and thither on the wings of the whirlwind.

    Albert Durer

    T. Sturge Moore

British Dictionary definitions for thither

thither

thitherward (ˈðɪðəwəd)

adverb
  1. obsolete, or formal to or towards that place; in that directionthe flowers and music which attract people thither
Show More

Word Origin

Old English thider, variant of thæder, influenced by hider hither; related to Old Norse thathra there
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 thither

adv.

Old English þider "to or toward that place," altered (by influence of its opposite hider) from earlier þæder "to that place," from Proto-Germanic *thadra- (cf. Old Norse þaðra "there"), from *tha (see that) + PIE suffix denoting motion toward (cf. Gothic -dre, Sanskrit -tra). The medial -th- developed in Middle English but was rare before early 16c. (cf. gather, murder, burden).

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with thither

thither

see hither and thither.

Show More
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.