adv. (sb.) Forms: α. 2–3 ðer-, 2–5 þerfore, (2 þaruore, 2–4 þeruore, 3 ðor-, þar-fore, 3–4 þervore), 5–6 therfore, (6 Sc. thair-, yair., theirfore). β. 2–5 þerefore, (2–3 þereuore, 4 þarefore), 5– therefore. γ. 3–5 þerfor, (3 þeruor, 4 þar-, tarfor, 4–5 þer-for, yarfor), 5–7 therfor, (6 Sc. thair-, yairfor, -foir, 7 therfoer). δ. 6– therefor, (9 there-for). (Early ME. þerfore, þerefore (often written as two words), f. pǣr-, þer-, THERE + fore, OE. and early ME. collateral form of for: see FORE adv. and prep. After final e became mute, fore prep. was gradually leveled with for, and ther(e)fore was often written therfor, therefor. In mod. Eng. (since c. 1800) therefore and therefor are almost always differentiated in spelling and stress in accordance with meaning: see below.]
I. (Now usu. spelt therefor for distinction from 2.) formal or arch.
1. For that (thing, act, etc.); for that, for it. a. In various senses of FOR prep.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 9. His festen … and chirc-ȝong and god to donne þeruore.
c. 1220. Bestiary, 377. God giueð ðer fore mede.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 610 (Cott.). He gaf it him, als in heritage, To yeild þerfor [v.rr. þare fore, þar for, þerfore] na mar knaulage.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Sqr.’s T., 169. Born anon in to the heighe Tour, With certeine officers ordeynd therfore [v.rr. ther fore, there fore, þerfore].
c. 1440. Alphabet of Tales, 97. Sho ansswerd agayn & sayd … sho wold not delyver it or he & his felow bothe samen come þerfor.
1477. Earl Rivers (Caxton), Dictes, 1. To gyue therfore synguler louynges & thankes.
1561. Norton & Sackv., Gorboduc, V. i. Speede must we vse to levie force therefore.
1622. Callis, Stat. Sewers (1647), 86. To erect new Walls, Banks and other Defences, and what sums of Money to Raise and Levy therefore.
1824. Medwin, Convers. Byron, II. 186. I … have … continued here … in the hope of seeing things reconciled, and have done all in my power there-for.
1856. R. A. Vaughan, Mystics, VI. iv. (1860), I. 184. If the emperor sins, he must give account to God therefor.
1861. Evening Star, 4 Oct. 100lbs. of potatoes or a substitute therefore thrice a week.
1870. Morris, Earthly Par., II. III. 344. The love I had therefor.
1877. F. Hall, Eng. Adj. in -able, 39. Argument being at an end, recourse was then had to the common substitute therefor, ridicule.
1885. Act 48 & 49 Vict., c. 70 § 7. He shall supply a copy of such report … on payment of the sum of one shilling therefor.
b. By reason of that; for that reason, on that account: cf. FOR prep. 21, 22.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 5. Þa ȝe [MS. þaȝ] habbe wele to ouer stohwennesse on þisse liue ne beo þu þereuore prud.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 143. Þaruore hire sinne hire bicome swiðe laðe.
c. 1220. Bestiary, 509. Vt of his ðrote it smit an onde,… ðer-fore oðre fisses to him draȝen.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 1215. Ysmael pleide hard gamen; Sarra was ðor-fore often wroð.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 5348. Vre louerd mid is eyen of milce on þe lokeþ þeruore.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 287. Þerfor is he cald trinite For he es anfald godd in thre. Ibid. (13[?]), 2894 (Gött.). God forbede ȝe do þat sin Þat ȝe in hell þarfor [Trin. þerfore] brin.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 1863 (Lucrece). That Tarquyny shulde ybanysshed be ther-fore.
1533. More, Debell. Salem, Wks. 954/1. When he saith himself that they haue punished many therfore, that is to wit, for thesame cause.
1605. Camden, Rem., 181. If that any Iew did buy any Christian for his slave, hee should bee fined therefore.
1805. Scott, Last Minstr., IV. vi. They crossed the Liddle … And burned my little lonely tower; The fiend receive their souls therefor!
1848. Lowell, Lett. (1894), I. 151. Tell Briggs that his ticket came safely, and that I am thankful therefor.
1868. Hawthorne, Amer. Note-Bks. (1879), II. 173. They would all be … healthier men therefor.
1899. F. T. Bullen, Log Sea-waif, 149. The ill-used crew promptly refused to do any more in her, and were, of course, clapped in jail therefor.
II. (Now always spelt therefore.)
2. In consequence of that; that being so; as a result or inference from what has been stated; conscquently. Formerly sometimes unemphatic (esp. in versions of N. T.) = THEN 5.
In early use often indistinguishable from 1 b, where see earlier examples; now distinguished as expressing a general relation of consequence or inference. Sometimes classed as a conjunction.
a. 1400. Prymer (1891), 45. Lo ther fore alle generations schulle seye y am blessed.
1526. Tindale, Matt. xiii. 18. Heare ye therfore the similitude off the sower.
1533. Cranmer, Misc. Writ. (Parker Soc.), II. 260. I trust, therefore, you will not so hardly regard my first request herein.
1548–9. (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion. It is very mete … that we shoulde … geue thankes to thee, O Lorde…. Therefore with Angelles and Archangels … we laud [etc.].
1552. Huloet, Therfore,… cum accent. in penult., eo, ergo, idcirco, ideo, igitur,… propterea, propter hoc.
1555. Eden, Decades, 202. Manate … is the thyrde [fish] whereof I haue promysed to entreate. Manate therefore, is a fysshe of the sea, of the byggest sorte [etc.].
c. 1600. Shaks., Sonn., xli. Gentle thou art, and therefore to be wonne, Beautious thou art, therefore to be assailed. Ibid., cxxiii. Our dates are breefe, and therefor we admire, What thou dost foyst vpon vs that is ould.
1611. Bible, John iv. 6. Now Iacobs Well was there. Iesus therefore [Tindale then], being wearied with his iourney, sale thus on the Well.
1660. Barrow, Euclid, I. xv. Schol., Because the angle AEC + AED + CEB + DEB = 4 right angles, therefore the angle AEC + AED = CEB + DEB = to two right angles, therefore CED and AEB are strait lines.
1735. Berkeley, Free-think. in Math., § 2. Things obscure are not therefore sacred.
1845. M. Pattison, Ess. (1889), I. 15. The Franks were the stronger, and therefore the masters.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. II. 80. The refugees were zealous for the Calvinistic discipline…. James therefore gave orders [etc.].
B. as sb. The word ‘therefore’ as marking a conclusion; an expressed conclusion or inference.
1641. ‘Smectymnuus,’ Vind. Answ., xiii. 144. Let him first answer our Therefores, and wee will quickly answer his Wherefores.
1674. Hickman, Hist. Quinquart. (ed. 2), 185. The Article having made a (therefore), its strange that any one should draw any other conclusion from it, than what it self hath drawn.
1874. Geo. Eliot, Coll. Breakf. P., in Jubal, etc., 232. A faith Defying sense and all its ruthless train Or arrogant ‘therefores.’
