whither

[hwith -er, with -]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR whither ON THESAURUS.COM

adverb

to what place? where?

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

conjunction

to which place.

to whatever place.

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

Related Words for whither

where

Examples from the Web for whither

Contemporary Examples of whither

Death and the awful abode of lost souls, whither my weakness long ago had sent him, had changed him for every other eye but mine.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show
Robert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014
So is it unseemly to therefore flip it back to the Dems and ask, “Whither go the bros?”
Do Democrats Care About Men?
Justin Green
October 16, 2012
Nevertheless, it is no exaggeration to say that whither Rafsanjani goes, so goes the future of Iran.
Friday Surprise in Iran?
Reza Aslan
July 16, 2009

Historical Examples of whither

So turning from me, she spoke with quickness, Whither now, Clary Harlowe?
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
He is now shut up in his apartment, whither I heard him go on leaving mine.
Lady Susan
Jane Austen
What good would it do her to know who he was, from whence he came, or whither he was going?
The Dream
Emile Zola
Nor, in the blindness of his frenzy, had he seen when she had gone nor whither she went.
Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates
Howard Pyle
Whither, under circumstances like these, was it natural for her to fly?
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. I
Francis Augustus Cox

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

adv.

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