Forms: see below. [OE. hwider, earlier (Northumb.) huidir, later hwyder, f. Teut. χwi- (cf. WHICH); the synonymous Goth. hwadrē is f. Teut. χwa- (see WHO). Late and occasional OE. hwæder (see A. γ) is prob. due to the analogy of þæder THITHER.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
α. 1–3 hwider, (1 hw-, huid(d)ir, hwidder, huid(d)er, 3 Orm. whiderr), 3–4 wider, quider, 4–6 whider, whyder, (4 huider, huyder, whidur, whydre, wydur, wyddere, quidder, 4–5 whidere, whidir, wyder, 5 whidyr, whydyr, widir, wydyr, whiddir, whydder, -ur, whidre, widere), 5–6 Sc. quhidder, (6 -ir); 4 whithir, quiþer, 5 whiþer, whythyr, 5–6 whyther, Sc. quhither, 6–7 wither, 6– whither.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter, cxxxviii[i]. 7. From onsiene ðinre hwider fleom ic?
a. 900. Leiden Gloss., in O. E. Texts, 115. Cujatis, huidirryne.
c. 9[?]. Ælfred, Boeth., xxii. (MS. Cott.). Ac þær ðu onʓeate hwider ic ðe nu tiohiʓe to lædenne.
c. 1000. Rituale Dunelm. (Surtees), 55. Svæ hvidder.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gen. xvi. 8 (MS. Laud Misc. 509, lf. 12). Hu færst þu oþþe hwider wylt þu?
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2600. To loken quider it sulde ben went.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 64. Wydur [13[?] Gött. quiþer, c. 1375 Fairf. quidder] to wende ne wat he noght.
c. 1300. Harrow. Hell (L.), 118. Y ne recche whyder y go.
c. 1320. Sir Tristr., 586. He no wist whider to go.
c. 1400. 26 Pol. Poems, 22. Gostly blynd goþ, and not neuere whidre.
c. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 211. Whydyr þat þay ledyn þe wayne.
a. 1483. Whythyr [see WHITHERSOMEVER].
a. 1500. Cov. Corp. Christi Pl., i. 230. Then forto goo wyst I nott whyddur.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, VI. iii. 80. Behaldand … quhat singnis thai schaw, Or quhiddir thai mark.
1523. Whyder [see B. 4].
1556. Olde, Antichrist, 128. No whider elles.
1588. Parke, trans. Mendoza’s Hist. China, 254. They let their ship saile … whither as fortune did cary them.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 29 Jan. 1645. The towne Aversa, wither came 3 or 4 coaches.
β. 1 hwyder, 3 hwuder, whuder(e, wuder.
971. Blickl. Hom., 99. Hwyder ʓewiton … þa idlan blissa?
c. 1205. Lay., 1202. Wise mi … whuder ich mæi liðan. Ibid., 12169. Liðen wuder swa þu wult.
γ. 1 hwæder, 4 whader (?).
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gen. xxxii. 17 (MS. Laud Misc. 509, lf. 23). Ʒif … he eow axie, hwæs ʓe sin[d] oððe hwæder [v.r. hwyder] ʓe willon. Ibid., xxxvii. 30 (ib. lf. 25 b). Nys se cnapa her; hwæder ga ic?
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. viii. 19. Ic fyliʓe þe, swa hwæder [v.r. hwyder] swa þu færst.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 1874 (Glasgow MS.). I rought of deth ne of lyf Whader that loue wolde me dryf.
δ. 3 weder, 4–5 wheder, -yr, queder, 5 whedir, -ire, -ur, -yre, whedder, qweder, quedire, -ur, Sc. qwhedyr; 4 whethir, queþer, -ir, 4–5 wheþer, 5 whethyr, wheither, Sc. quhether, qw(h)eþir, 5–6 wether, 5–8 whether, 6 Sc. quhethire, 7 wheather.
a. 1300. Harrow. Hell (O.), 110. I ne recche weder I go.
a. 1300. Queder [see WHITHERSUM].
13[?]. Northern Passion (Harl.), 750. He spird … Wheder þai war went.
a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 3499. Pas quedire as him plese.
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., xxiii. 81. I wole not … whether to go.
1471. Marg. Paston, in P. Lett., III. 24. We wut not qweder to fle.
c. 1480. Henryson, Fox, Wolf, & Husb., 29. The Uolf said, ‘quhether dryuis thow this, Pray?’
1589. Nashe, Anat. Absurd., Wks. (Grosart), I. 70. Whether euery way leadeth.
1639. in Verney Mem. (1907), I. 95. I am newly come out of Scottland, wheather I am instantly returning again.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, X. 514. Whether wou’d you run?
1722. De Foe, Plague (1754), 202. In Heaven, whether, I hope we may come.
ε. 3 ȝwodere, 3–5 woder, 4–5 whoder, -ir, -ur, 5 whodere, -yr, wheoder, hoder(e, 6 whother.
c. 1275. Woder [see B. 4].
c. 1290. St. Christopher, 38, in S. Eng. Leg., 272. Ȝwodere þenxt þou gon?
c. 1300. Beket, 1648. Ynot whoder thu wolt go.
c. 1420. Chron. Vilod., 1560. Whethen he come & hodere he went, knewe nomone.
c. 1425. Whodyr [see WHITHERSO].
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., xii. 38. Whens art þou, and whodir art þou boun?
c. 1475. Partenay, 2764. Of your wif enquere … at no day … To what place she torn ne hoder wyll go.
1535. Whother [see B. 3 a].
B. Signification.
Now, in all senses, only archaic or literary; replaced in ordinary use by where, or colloq. where … to: see WHERE 3, 1 c. (Cf. WHENCE I.)
I. Interrogative uses.
1. To what place? a. in direct questions.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Deut. i. 28. Hwider fare we?
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 147. Ac wider ȝeden hie?
13[?]. Bonaventura’s Medit., 995. Whedyr shulde y wende, to frende, ouþer kyn?
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, VII. v. 219. Ther came a man fleynge … whether wolt thou sayd Beaumayns.
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., IV. i. 16. Whether trauell you?
1649. C. Wase, Sophocles, Electra, 15. Whither away?
1697. Dryden, Æneis, X. 945. Whence am I forc’d, and whether am I born?
1722. De Foe, Plague (1754), 143. Whither will you go? and what can you do?
1836. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Gt. Winglebury Duel. ‘Whither are we going?’ inquired the lady tragically.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, lxiii. What was the use of cavalry in a time of profound peace?—and whither the deuce should the hussars ride?
1884. Gilmour, Mongols, xvii. 202. If souls do not transmigrate, where do they come from at birth, whither do they go at death?
† Humorous phr. (as sb.). 1678. Ray, Prov. (ed. 2), 346. How doth your whither goe you? (your wife).
1721. E. Ward, Northern Cuckold, 7. Not that our Northern Cuckold’s Whither D’ye go, is such a Doxy neither.
1725. New Cant. Dict., Whither-D’ye-go, an insolent prescribing Wife.
b. in dependent questions and similar clauses.
971. Blickl. Hom., 151. Hie … nystan hwyder hie eodan. Ibid., 229. Hie sendon hlot him betweonum hwider hyra ʓehwylc faran scolde to læranne.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 17. Þe inreste þesternesse is in ðare hierte ðe ne wile forsceawin hwider he scal ðanne he henen farð.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 159. Lusteð nu … hwo hire ledde, and wu and hwider.
c. 1290. St. Matthew, 140, in S. Eng. Leg., 81. Nou god it wot and seint Matheu ȝwodere is soule wende.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 2144. Hii nuste wuder drawe.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 701. It is a selcouþe, me þinkes, whider þat lady is went.
c. 1420. Avow. Arth., xxv. The blonke him a-boute bore, Wiste he neuyr quedur!
1509. Hawes, Past. Pleas., XXXIV. (Percy Soc.), 170. She … did aske me whether That I so rode, and what I would have?
1589. Nashe, Anat. Absurd., Wks. (Grosart), I. 70. Wee duely consider, whether euery way leadeth.
1660. Nicholas Papers (Camden), IV. 216. Intimating that Alison was now gonne hee knew not whither.
1722. De Foe, Plague (1754), 65. If he knew whether to go.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, xii. Wandering they knew not whither.
1882. Besant, All Sorts, xxiii. What he did, whither he went, where he died, might be left to conjecture.
2. gen. or fig. with various shades of meaning: To what result, condition, action, subject, cause, etc.? † to what extent, how far?
9[?]. Ælfred, Boeth., xl. (MS. Cott.). Hwæðer ðu nu onʓite hwider þios spræce wille?
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1299. Hwider is ower wit & ower wisdom iwent?
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 236. Whedir schal þi soule in þin ende, to peyne or ioye?
c. 1491. Chast. Goddes Chyld., 12. Wheder is all this become?
1538. Starkey, England, II. iii. (1878), 215. Wel, Master Lvpset, I perceyue wether you go [= ‘what you are driving at’].
1611. B. Jonson, Catiline, IV. ii. I 3. Whither at length wilt thou abuse our patience? [Quousque tandem...].
1625. Burges, Pers. Tithes, 31. Suspecting whether he may be drawne by yeelding that to be a Due.
1652. Bp. Hall, Invis. World, I. § 4. If there fall out … any direful prodigies … whither should they be imputed but to these mighty angels?
a. 1674. Clarendon, Surv. Leviath. (1676), 153. If they had known whether to have addressed their complaints.
1746. Francis, trans. Hor., Sat., II. vii. 29. Thou tedious varlet, whither tends This putrid stuff?
1820. Shelley, Prometh. Unb., III. iv. 122. Whither has wandered now my partial tongue?
1851. Kingsley, Yeast, x. Oh, Lancelot, Lancelot, whither are you forcing me?
II. Relative uses.
3. a. as compound relative: To the place to (or in) which. Also with correlative thither. Also fig.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., John xxi. 18. Ambulabas ubi uolebas, Ðu waldes ʓeonga huidir ðu waldes.
1382. Wyclif, John viii. 21. Whidur I go, ȝe mown not come.
1471. Caxton, Recuyell, 683. To goo whyther the goddes wold consente that they shold dwelle.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 26. Prouyde suche money yt may brynge hym whether he entendeth.
1535. Joye, Apol. Tindale (Arb.), 18. And whother the head went thither must the bodye folow.
1561. Daus, trans. Bullinger on Apoc., xxxvii. 237. Away with them and their sophistrie, whither they are worthie.
1682. N. O., Boileau’s Lutrin, II. 19. Then whether Honour calls thee, bravely follow.
1836. J. Gilbert, Chr. Atonem. (1852), 343. I must go whither truth conducts me.
b. as simple relative: To which place; after a noun of place = to which; also with ellipsis = a place to which.
a. 1400. Morte Arth., 3231. I ne wiste no waye whedire þat I scholde.
c. 1400. Apol. Loll., 31. He assignid seuenty and two disciplis, and sent hem … in to ilk place and cite widir he was to com.
1549. Bk. Com. Prayer, Coll. Sun. after Ascension. Exalte us unto the same place whither our sauiour Christe is gone before.
1609. Bible (Douay), Deut. xix. 3. He which … is a fugitive, may have … whither to escape.
1617. Moryson, Itin., I. 42. Wee landed … in Freesland, at the Village Anion,… whether wee hired a sledge … and were drawne thither ouer the yce and snow.
1664. Power, Exp. Philos., I. 68. The sense and motion of that part whither that Nerve was propagated.
1722. De Foe, Plague (1754), 1. The Plague … had been very violent … at Amsterdam and Roterdam,… whether they say, it was brought, some said from Italy, others from the Levant.
1821. Shelley, Hellas, 862. I come Thence whither thou must go!
1825. Scott, Jrnl., 28 Nov. Dined at Melville Castle, whither I went through a snowstorm.
1893. Max Pemberton, Iron Pirate, i. At Cowes, whither I had taken my yacht … for the Regatta Week.
4. In generalized or indef. sense: To (or in) any place to which; to whatever place; whithersoever.
Esp. with addition of † as, † that, † ever, so(ever): see also WHITHERSO, -SOEVER.
c. 1275. Lay., 12169. Ich wolle … wende woder þat þou wolt.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 10812. Forto help hir in hir nede, Quider þat [Laud Whethir so, Gött. Queþer-sua, Trin. Whoder so] sco rade or yede.
13[?]. trans. Ælred, in Engl. Stud., VII. 324. Ȝif þu folwe þis blessed mayde whider-þat-euer sche goþ.
1340. Ayenb., 235. Uor to uolȝy þe lamb of mildenesse huyder hit geþ to huam hi byeþ y-spoused.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., II. 17. Þe Holi Gost ledde Jesus whidir ever he wente, and what dedis evere he dide.
c. 1440. Alphabet of Tales, 53. Whider as euer he went, or what thyng som evur he did, he was evur sayand Ave Maria.
c. 1450. Two Cookery-bks., 101. Cary him wheþer euer þou wolt.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. ccccxlvi. 318 b/2. I haue hyred this shyppe … to sayle whyder as me lyst.
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., V. iii. 22. Go with thy soule whether it goes.
1648. J. Beaumont, Psyche, VII. cxxi. Whether as he mounts, his News in every sphere He to th’ inquisitive Spirits poureth forth.
a. 1672. Wilkins, Nat. Relig., I. xvii. (1675), 241. We should … follow whither ever he shall lead us.
1722. De Foe, Plague (1754), 170. They were at Liberty to travel whither they pleased.
1873. Browning, Red Cott. Nt.-cap, III. 192. A spark From Paris, answered by a snap at Caen Or whither reached the telegraphic wire.
III. Indefinite and substantival uses.
5. With preceding qualifying words, forming compounds: see ANYWHITHER, EVERYWHITHER, NOWHITHER, OWHITHER, SOMEWHITHER.
6. as sb. (nonce-use.) Place or state to which a person or thing moves or tends. (Cf. WHENCE 5.)
1875. [see WHENCE 5].
1896. A. Austin, England’s Darling, I. i. He roams abroad … Spying the where and whither of his foes.
