whereby
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: enpr: wâr-bī'
ipa: /wɛə(ɹ)ˈbaɪ/
rhymes: -aɪ
Etymology: From where + by.
Senses: examples: text: Whereby goest thou?
glosses: By what, in which direction; how.
examples: text: Shylock:
Nay, take my life and all; pardon not that:
You take my house when you do take the prop
That doth sustain my house; you take my life
When you do take the means whereby I live.
ref: c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
text: M. Sawrey […] devised a mechanical method whereby theatrical scenes could be changed in a simple way.
ref: 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 179:
text: Other heads saw devolution as a whole new way of life and adopted an approach whereby the power of devolution was used to enable the school to drive the curriculum.
ref: 1990, Local management of schools, Kogan Page Ltd:
glosses: By which.
examples: text: Because COBOL does not have a date type, some implementations rely instead on a system whereby all dates are coded to a reference point. The most commonly used is May 20, 1875, as this was the date of an international standards-setting conference held in Paris, known as the Convention du Mètre.
ref: 2025 February 17, David Gilbert, “No, 150-Year-Olds Aren’t Collecting Social Security Benefits”, in WIRED, archived from the original on 19 Feb 2025:
glosses: Where, wherein, in which.
Related terms: —
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1. Scottish2. from Middle English mid3. old dialectal form