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whither

[hwith -er, with -]
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adverb

to what place? where?
to what end, point, action, or the like? to what?

conjunction

to which place.
to whatever place.

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Lexical Investigations: WitThough today we most often think of wit as a particular kind of humor, historically it has referred more generally to mental faculty. In the time of Chaucer, for example, wit could mean a way of thinking, much as we use mind today in phrases like “we were of one mind” or “he had a mind to.” For many centuries, wit could also refer to …
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RELATED WORDS

where

Nearby words

  1. whitewater rafting,
  2. whitewing,
  3. whitewood,
  4. whitey,
  5. whitgift,
  6. whither thou goest, i will go,
  7. whithersoever,
  8. whitherward,
  9. whiting,
  10. whitish

Origin of whither

before 900; Middle English, variant of Middle English, Old English hwider, alteration of hwæder (cognate with Gothic hwadre), modeled on hider hither
Can be confusedhence hither thence thither whence whither yon (see usage note at whence)weather whether whither wither (see synonym study at wither)whither wither
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for whither

British Dictionary definitions for whither

whither

adverb

to what place?
to what end or purpose?

conjunction

to whatever place, purpose, etc

Word Origin for whither

Old English hwider, hwæder; related to Gothic hvadrē; modern English form influenced by hither
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 whither

whither

adv.

Old English hwider, from Proto-Germanic *khwi- "who" (see who) + -der as in hither and thither. Cf. Gothic hvadre.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper