| 释义 |
wherever, adv., conj.|hwɛərˈɛvə(r)|
contr. (poet.) where'er |hwɛərˈɛə(r)|. Orginally as two words (and so still in sense 1); subsequently often with hyphen, where-ever (where-e'er), etc.; now always in contracted spelling wherever (where'er), the final e of where coalescing with the initial e of ever.
[f. where + ever adv. 8 d, e.]
1. interrog. An emphatic extension of where? implying perplexity or surprise. Now colloq.
More properly written as two words: see ever adv. 8 d.
[971Blickl. Hom. 167 Hwær aᵹylte he æfre on his ᵹeᵹerelan, se þe mid þon anum hræᵹle wæs ᵹeᵹyrwed þe of olfenda hærum awunden wæs?] c1275Lay. 26127 Þo hii þat heued iseȝen, sellich heom þohten ware euere onder heauene soch heued were ikenned. c1435Torr. Portyngale 625 ‘Seynt Marre’, seyd the chyld so fre, ‘Wher euyr my jentyll squyer myght be, That I with me to wod browght?’ 1864T. A. Trollope Beppo iii. vi, Where ever am I to find a girl that can pull me up out of my chair in the way you do? 1875Parish Sussex Dial. s.v. Mask, Why! you're one mask! Wherever have you been? 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer xvii, Wherever did the cayenne come from?
2. a. rel. At (or to) any place at which.
Occas. introducing a subject-clause = any place at which; also with correlative there, thither.
a1300Cursor M. 4672 Ioseph..Did gader sariantz and squier..Quar-euer þat [Gött. Quare þat euer] þai funden were. 1382Wyclif Luke xvii. 37 Where euere the body schal be, also the eglis schulen be gederid to gidere thidur. 1508Dunbar Flyting 67 Quhair evir we meit thairto my hand I hecht, To red thy rebald ryming with a rowt. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, v. iii. 141 Good Vnckle helpe to order seuerall powres To Oxford, or where ere these Traitors are. 1712Steele Spect. No. 423 ⁋2 Where-ever you are Damon appears also. 1796Burney Mem. Metastasio I. 227 Wherever a great personage happens to be, will become the principal place. 1857Pusey Real Pres. Doctr. Engl. Ch. iii. 325 Wherever our Lord and Saviour is, there He is to be adored. 1882Besant All Sorts xxviii, Wherever there are Englishmen, working, fighting, or sporting, there are some of those families among them.
b. ellipt. (with loss of relative force): At any place whatever, at some place or other. Now usu. preceded by or, whatever place. Cf. whatever pron. and a. 4 c; whenever adv., conj. 1. colloq.
1667Milton P.L. xii. 449 Not onely to the Sons of Abrahams Loines..but to the Sons Of Abrahams Faith wherever through the world. 1671― P.R. iv. 404 Our Saviour..Hungry and cold betook him to his rest, Wher⁓ever, under some concourse of shades Whose branching arms..might shield..his shelter'd head. 1917H. James Sense of Past iv. iii. 242 A pot of about the size..of that one..on the cabinet or wherever. 1952A. Hocking Best Laid Plans vi. 90 This committee will now adjourn to The Pig and Whistle or wherever, for liquid refreshment. 1976Bookseller 24 Apr. 2088/1 A jet flies off to London, New York, Paris, or wherever. 1978Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 220/1 In time of trouble, whether in Cyprus, or Karachi, or wherever, you would see everybody tuning in to the BBC. 1981W. Bronk Life Supports 31 The terrible world where hollow catastrophe Hangs wherever.
3. To (or at) any place to which; whithersoever.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xviii. (Egipciane) 741 Send me quhare-ewyr þu wil. c1375Cursor M. 1154 (Fairf.) Wiþ al þou sal be halden vile Quare-euer [Cott. Quarsa] þou comys in exile. c1450Mirk's Festial 302 Myn arme is roted awey þat was wont to peynte an ymage of þe whereuer I went. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 25 Quhair evir he raid he was convoyit with ane thowsand horsmen. 1692Prior Ode Imit. Hor. x, Where-e'er old Rhine his fruitful Water turns. 1740Gray Let. to his Mother 2 Apr., I desire you to give my duty to my father, and wherever else it is due. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 147 Wherever he came, the gentry flocked round him. 1853Dickens Bleak Ho. iii, ‘Don't you want to go there?’ ‘Where, sir?’ ‘Where? Why, wherever you are going,’ said the gentleman.
4. Introducing a qualifying (equivalent to conditional or disjunctive) dependent clause, often with verb in subjunctive: In (or to) whatever place; whether at one place or another; no matter where.
c1430Syr Tryam. 1461 In worlde where ever he be bestedd, And he wyste of thys case, Hyddur he wolde take hys pase. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. June 99 Flye to my loue, where euer that she bee. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 170 Of other Creatures, as him pleases best, Wherever plac't, let him dispose. 1703Earl of Orrery As you find it ii. ii. 28 Where⁓ever they come from,..they have perform'd very well. 1771E. Griffith Hist. Lady Barton I. 45, I should not chuse to be farther removed from that blessed spot, where ere it be. 1854J. S. C. Abbott Napoleon (1855) I. xxii. 352 England claimed the right of visiting and searching merchant ships, to whatever nation belonging, whatever the cargoes, wher⁓ever the destination. 1854A. Jameson Comm.-pl. Bk. 69 Unhappy that nation, wherever it may be, where the question is yet pending between servitude and civil war!
5. gen. or fig. In any case, condition, or circumstances in which (cf. where 10 b).
1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. v. 87 Phe. Why I am sorry for thee gentle Siluius. Sil. Where euer sorrow is, reliefe would be. 1695Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth vi. 246 Where⁓ever he hath receded from the Mosaick Account of that Earth, he hath..receded from Nature, and Matter of Fact. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xx, For wherever there is genius there is pride. 1799Med. Jrnl. I. 422 Whereever the state of the patient's strength is sufficient to undergo the process.., it ought frequently to be practised. 1884Fairbairn in Congregationalist Apr. 288 Wherever the laws of mechanics rule, necessity rules; wherever necessity rules, freedom is absent. |