WHITHER

Etymology

Adverb

whither (not comparable)

(archaic, formal, poetic or literary) To what place.

Usage notes

• This word is unusual in modern usage; (to) where is much more common. It is more often encountered in older works or when used poetically.

• It is also sometimes used as a rhetorical device by journalists and other writers in headlines, with the meaning "What will the future bring for ..."

• Do not confuse with whether or wither.

• Compare to the inanimate pronoun "whereto" which follows the pattern of "preposition + what" or "preposition + which".

Antonyms

• whence

Verb

whither (third-person singular simple present whithers, present participle whithering, simple past and past participle whithered)

(intransitive, obsolete, dialectal) To wuther.

Source: Wiktionary

Whith"er, adv. Etym: [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]

1. To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou "Whider may I flee" Chaucer. Sir Valentine, whither away so fast Shak.

2. To what or which place; -- used relatively. That no man should know . . . whither that he went. Chaucer. We came unto the land whither thou sentest us. Num. xiii. 27.

3. To what point, degree, end, conclusion, or design; whereunto; whereto; -- used in a sense not physical. Nor have I . . . whither to appeal. Milton. Any whither, to any place; anywhere. [Obs.] "Any whither, in hope of life eternal." Jer. Taylor.

– No whither, to no place; nowhere. [Obs.] 2 Kings v. 25.

Syn.

– Where.

– Whither, Where. Whither properly implies motion to place, and where rest in a place. Whither is now, however, to a great extent, obsolete, except in poetry, or in compositions of a grave and serious character and in language where precision is required. Where has taken its place, as in the question, "Where are you going"

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition