wherefore
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: enpr: wâ(r)'fô(r)"
enpr: hwâ(r)'fô(r)"
ipa: /ˈwɛə(ɹ)ˌfɔː(ɹ)/
ipa: /ˈʍɛə(ɹ)ˌfɔː(ɹ)/
enpr: hwûr'fôr"
ipa: /ˈʍɜːɹˌfɔːɹ/
rhymes: -eə(ɹ)fɔː(ɹ)
Forms: form: wherefor
Etymology: From Middle English wherfor, wherfore, hwarfore, equivalent to where- (“what”) + for. Compare Dutch waarvoor (“what for, wherefore”), German wofür (“for what, what for, why”), Danish and Norwegian hvorfor (“wherefore, why”), Swedish varför (“wherefore, why”). More at where, for.
Senses: examples: text: Ah, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? / Denie thy Father, and refuſe thy name, / Or if thou wilt not be but ſworne my loue, / And il'e no longer be a Capulet.
ref: c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Juliet. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, published 1597, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
text: VVherefore weepe you?
ref: 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 11, column 2:
text: Wherefore doe the wicked liue, become old, yea, are mightie in power?
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 21:7, column 1:
text: And if he preached other than the right doctrine, wherefore did his superiors in the Carthusian convent permit it? If the shepherds turn a wolf in sheep's clothing into the flock, they should not blame the sheep for being worried.
ref: 1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter II, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series. […] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume III, Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, page 27:
text: "Good morning, Mrs. Denny," he said. "Wherefore this worried look on your face? Has that reprobate James been misbehaving himself?"
ref: 1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, chapter 1, in Bulldog Drummond:
glosses: Why, for what reason, because of what.
examples: text: For behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?
ref: 1830, Joseph Smith Jr., chapter 4, in The Book of Mormon^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Book_of_Mormon_(1981)/Jacob#Chapter_4), Jacob:
text: Wherefore, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors and should be removed from office.
ref: 2010 March 17, House of the United States, House Resolution 1031:
glosses: Therefore; thus.
Derived terms: why and wherefore
Related terms: —
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1. Scottish2. from Middle English mid3. old dialectal form