whither
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
whither¹
- /ˈwɪðəː/ UK
- [ˈwɪðəː] UK
- /ˈʍɪðəː/ UK
- [ˈʍɪðəː] UK
- /ˈwɪðɚ/ US
- [ˈwɪðɚ] ~ [ˈwɪðɹ̩] US
- /ˈʍɪðɚ/ US
- [ˈʍɪðɚ] ~ [ˈʍɪðɹ̩] US
Sounds like wither (wine–whine merger) · Rhymes with -ɪðə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
From Middle English whider (“to what place?; into or to which; to what place, where; no matter where, to wherever”), from Old English hwider, hwæder (“to what place, where”), from Proto-Germanic *hwadrê (“to what place, where”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷos (“what; which”), from *kʷ- (the primary interrogative root).
adverb
-
To what place; where.
Whither wilt thou wander, wayfarer?
Opposite: whence
- To what (future) cause, condition or state, reason, etc.; where, where next; also (obsolete) to what extent; how far. VVhither at length vvilt thou abuſe our patience?
- To which place; also (after a noun denoting a place) to which. [W]e beſche thee, leaue vs not comfortles, but ſende to vs thine holy ghoſt to comfort vs, and exalte vs vnto thy ſame place, whither our ſauiour Chriſte is gone before: […]
- To the place in or to which. And with the same grave countenance he hurried through his breakfast and drove to the police station, whither the body had been carried.
-
In or to any place to which; to whatever place; wherever.
Ah foole, goe vvith thy ſoule vvhither it goes, / A borrovved title haſt thou bought too deare.
Similar: whithersoever
noun whithers
- A place to which someone or something goes; also, a condition to which someone or something moves. To knovv the local beginnings of vvinds, is a thing vvhich requires a deep ſearch and Inquiſition, ſeeing that the VVhence and VVhither of vvinds, are things noted even in Scripture to be abſtruſe and hidden.
whither²
- /ˈwɪðəː/ UK
- [ˈwɪðəː] UK
- /ˈʍɪðəː/ UK
- [ˈʍɪðəː] UK
- /ˈwɪðɚ/ US
- [ˈwɪðɚ] ~ [ˈwɪðɹ̩] US
- /ˈʍɪðɚ/ US
- [ˈʍɪðɚ] ~ [ˈʍɪðɹ̩] US
Sounds like wither (wine–whine merger) · Rhymes with -ɪðə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
The verb is borrowed from Scots whidder, whither (“(of the wind) to bluster; to move quickly”), a frequentative form of whid (“(of wind) to gust; to move quickly”), of Scandinavian/North Germanic origin, from Old Norse hviða (“gust of wind”).
Related to Middle English hwiþa, whyȝt (“breeze; wind”), Old English hwiþa, hwiþu, hweoþu (“breeze”). The noun is derived from the verb.
verb whithers · whithering · whithered · wuther
- To cause (someone) to hurry; to hasten, to hurry.
- To throw (something) forcefully; to hurl; also, to beat, to thrash.
- To shake (vigorously); to tremble.
- To move quickly, to rush, to whiz; also, to make a rushing sound; to whizz.
- Of the wind: to blow loudly and vigorously; to bluster; also, of an animal, etc.: to make a loud noise; to bellow, to roar.
noun whithers · wuther
- A state of rushed action; a haste, a hurry; also, a state of anger or excitement.
- A forceful blow or hit.
- An act of shaking (vigorously); a shiver, a tremble; also, a slight bout of discomfort or illness.
- The sound of something moving quickly; a rush, a whiz.
- A gust of wind; a bluster. I felt sure now that I was in the pensionnat—sure by the beating rain on the easement; sure by the ‘wuther’ of wind amongst trees, denoting a garden outside; sure by the chill, the whiteness, the solitude, amidst which I lay.
Translations
Talk about this word "whither." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/whither. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. whither. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/whither "whither." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/whither.Cite this
@misc{whither_2026,
title = {whither},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/whither},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
