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Vinony

whither

adverb

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L203797 on Wikidata ↗

conjunction

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L333922 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈwɪðəː/ / [ˈwɪðəː] / /ˈʍɪðəː/

adv

Etymology: 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).

  1. Interrogative senses.

    “Whither wilt thou wander, wayfarer?”

    “When as wee duely conſider, whether euery way leadeth, or wiſely ponder with our ſelues to what end we refer each one of our actions, and exact of our ſtraying thoughts a more ſeuere account of their wandering courſe, we ſhal find no victory ſo great, as the ſubduing of vice, nothing ſo hard as to liue well, no ſuch vneſtimable iewell, as an honeſt conuerſation: […]”

  2. Interrogative senses.

    “VVhither at length vvilt thou abuſe our patience?”

    “And, if there fall out any preternatural immutations in the elements, any strange concussations of the earth, any direful prodigies in the sky, whither should they be imputed, but to these mighty angels; whom it pleaseth the Most High God to employ in these extraordinary services?”

  3. Relative senses.

    “[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: […]”

    “[T]hou ſhalt diuide the vvhole prouince of thy Land equally into three partes: that he vvhich for murder is a fugitiue, may haue neere at hand, vvhither to eſcape.”

  4. Relative senses.

    “And with the same grave countenance he hurried through his breakfast and drove to the police station, whither the body had been carried.”

  5. Relative senses.

    “Ah foole, goe vvith thy ſoule vvhither it goes, / A borrovved title haſt thou bought too deare.”

    “VVhether as He mounted up, the Nevvs He tells / To every Orb and Star; but chiefly to / Th' inquiſitive Spirits, vvhoſe ears and hearts he fils / VVith all the VVonders He had ſeen belovv, […]”

noun

Etymology: 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.

  1. A state of rushed action; a haste, a hurry; also, a state of anger or excitement.
  2. A forceful blow or hit.
  3. An act of shaking (vigorously); a shiver, a tremble; also, a slight bout of discomfort or illness.
  4. The sound of something moving quickly; a rush, a whiz.
  5. 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.”

verb

Etymology: 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.

  1. To cause (someone) to hurry; to hasten, to hurry.
  2. To throw (something) forcefully; to hurl; also, to beat, to thrash.
  3. To shake (vigorously); to tremble.
  4. To move quickly, to rush, to whiz; also, to make a rushing sound; to whizz.
  5. Of the wind: to blow loudly and vigorously; to bluster; also, of an animal, etc.: to make a loud noise; to bellow, to roar.