adv. Now formal or arch. [f. WHERE 15 + AT prep.]
1. interrog.: At what? rare.
In first quot. app. = for what cause or reason, wherefore: cf. AT 34, 37.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 3237. Qvað god, ‘quor-at calles ðu me?’
c. 1480. Henryson, Cock & Fox, 563. Now Iuge ȝe all quhairat Schir Lowrence leuch.
15[?]. Adam Bel & Clym of Clough, cxlvii. ‘I hold hym neuer no good archar That shuteth at buttes so wyde.’ ‘Wherat?’ then sayd our kyng.
1540. Palsgr., Acolastus, I. iii. G j. Thou wottest fulle lyttell wherat thou reioysest.
1755. Johnson, s.v., Whereat are you offended?
2. rel. At which. a. in local and allied senses.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xxvi. 121. A wyndowe, whare at þe light commez in.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, II. viii. 33. A litle ȝett … Quhairat was wont alane Andromacha To entir.
1588. A. King, trans. Canisius’ Catech., h iv. Giff ȝow wald knaw ye dominicall lettre of ony hundereth ȝere, quhairat ye ordre of ye first table according to ye awld kallendar is interrupted.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage, V. xi. 425. At this Cart hang many … Ropes, whereat all the people hale and pull.
1626. Gouge, Serm. Dignity Chivalry, § 1. Take notice of the generall Scope whereat the Holy Ghost aimeth in this Chapter.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, II. 84/2. The Pit or Hole, from the Body, or stock there is whereat the branches sprout out.
1865. Swinburne, Chastelard, II. i. 78. Albeit I think Ye have caught the mark whereat my heart is bent.
1891. C. James, Rom. Rigmarole, 27. I returned to the spot whereat the Squire kept dreary watch.
b. in reference to occasion or cause.
1535. Joye, Apol. Tindale (Arb.), 11. Wherat many were offended.
1599. T. Storer, Life & Death Wolsey, F 4. What had the wiser sort whereat to smile?
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 389. With full assent They vote: whereat his speech he thus renews.
1782. Cowper, Gilpin, 205. Whereat his horse did snort, as he Had heard a lion roar.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, xlvi. Nell could not help weeping…; whereat … the simple schoolmaster shed a few tears himself.
1897. J. L. Allen, Choir Invis., ii. Edward West … said … that … he would demonstrate by his own model that some day navigation would be by steam: whereat they all laughed kindly at him for a dreamer.
