# wherewithal
## English
### Etymology

From where +‎ withal.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈwɛə.wɪ.ðɔːl/
* (US) IPA: /ˈwɛɚ.wɪ.ðɔl/, /ˈwɛɚ.wɪ.θɔl/
* (cot–caught merger) IPA: /ˈwɛɚ.wɪ.ðɑl/, /ˈwɛɚ.wɪ.θɑl/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)

### Noun

wherewithal (countable and uncountable, plural wherewithals)
* The ability and means required to accomplish some task.
    I would like to help your project, but I do not have the wherewithal.
** 1688, John Dryden, The Life of St Francis Xavier, book II, translation of original by Dominique Bouhours:Justice was sold at the tribunals, and the most enormous crimes escaped from punishment, when the criminals had wherewithal to corrupt their judges.
** 1954, Edward Eager, Half Magic:Big Council meeting! At the bookshop in twenty minutes. Carfare will be refunded. Can we scrape together the wherewithal?
** 1986, David Leavitt, The Lost Language of Cranes, paperback edition, Penguin, page 67:"I just can't imagine," Philip said, "having that kind of self-knowledge, that kind of...wherewithal at fifteen. […] "
** 2011 December 15, Felicity Cloake, “How to cook the perfect nut roast”, in Guardian‎:[…] A single slice of this could leave you supine in front of the Queen's speech without even the wherewithal to reach for the remote control.
** 2019, John O’Connell, Bowie's Bookshelf, →ISBN:Although Emma comes to realise she's trapped in a kind of hell, married to a dullard she despises, she lacks the intellectual wherewithal to plot a breakout more sophisticated than consorting with idiots such as Leon and Rodolphe.
** 2022, Gary Gerstle, chapter 8, in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order […] , New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, Part II. The Neoliberal Order, 1970–2020:In political economic terms, the pandemic worked to intensify a development that the decline in the neoliberal order had already set in motion: namely, a conviction that government was the only institution with the wherewithal to address severe economic and social hardship.

#### Translations
### Adverb

wherewithal (not comparable)
* (archaic) In what way; how.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 119:9:Wherewithall shall a yong man cleanse his way? by taking heede thereto according to thy word.
* (archaic) By means of which.
    Synonyms: whereby, wherewith
** 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 41, column 2:Rich. Northumberland, thou Ladder wherewithall / The mounting Bullingbrooke aſcends my Throne

#### Translations
### Related terms

* wherewith
* withal

### See also

* (about): hereabout, thereabout, whereabout
* (abouts): hereabouts, thereabouts, whereabouts
* (after): hereafter, thereafter, whereafter
* (again): thereagain
* (against): hereagainst, thereagainst, whereagainst
* (among): hereamong, thereamong, whereamong
* (amongst): thereamongst, whereamongst
* (anent): hereanent, thereanent, whereanent
* (around): therearound, wherearound
* (as): thereas, whereas
* (at): hereat, thereat, whereat
* (before): herebefore, therebefore
* (beside): therebeside
* (between): therebetween, wherebetween
* (by): hereby, thereby, whereby
* (for): herefor, therefor, wherefor
* (fore): herefore, therefore, wherefore
* (from): herefrom, therefrom, wherefrom
* (hence): herehence, therehence
* (in): herein, therein, wherein
* (in after): hereinafter, thereinafter, whereinafter
* (in before): hereinbefore, thereinbefore, whereinbefore
* (into): hereinto, thereinto, whereinto
* (of): hereof, thereof, whereof
* (on): hereon, thereon, whereon
* (out): hereout, thereout, whereout
* (somever): wheresomever
* (to): hereto, thereto, whereto
* (tofore): heretofore, theretofore, wheretofore
* (under): hereunder, thereunder, whereunder
* (unto): hereunto, thereunto, whereunto
* (upon): hereupon, thereupon, whereupon
* (with): herewith, therewith, wherewith
* (withal): herewithal, therewithal, wherewithal