wheretoadv.

Brit.

/wɛːˈtuː/, U.S.

/(h)wɛrˈtu/

Etymology: < where adv., conj., and n. Compounds 2 + to prep. Compare Dutch waartoe.

Now formal or archaic.

I. Interrogative.

1. To what? (in various senses of to prep.); in what direction, whither?

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > direction > [adverb] > to or towards some thing or place > to or towards what place or direction

whither971

whereOE

whereforthc1290

wheretoa1300

wherebya1450

where…to?1768

wheretill1827

which-a-way1909

a1300 Cursor Mundi 24488 Quen i sagh son warto þai tight, Al mi licam can þai light, And mi mode a-mend.

c1400 Rule St. Benet (verse) 293 Whar-to so þai turn þair mode.

c1400 Rule St. Benet (prose) 38 Þan sal man rede hir þe reule, þat sho may wite witerli whar-to sho salle halde hir.

c1400 in 26 Pol. Poems 149 Wherto ys a man more lyke, Then to a floure that spryngeth in may?

1484 in H. E. Malden Cely Papers (1900) 152 Wherto thys schall growe I can nott saye.

1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Ni^v/1 Wherto, quorsum.

1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 257 Lysander, whereto tends all this?

1855 R. W. Emerson Misc. vii. 56 What is matter? Whence is it? and Whereto?

†2. [to prep. 8] To what end? for what purpose? for what reason? wherefore? what..for? Obsolete exc. archaic.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > causation > cause or reason > [adverb] > why, wherefore, or for what reason

for whyc1000

whereofc1175

wheretoa1225

whereforec1230

whereata1325

how1340

wheretilla1400

whereupon1535

wherebya1616

whaffor1922

a1225 St. Marher. 16 Hwerto schuld i tellen þe..of ure cunde?

a1250 Owl & Nightingale 464 Wan min erende is ido, Sholde ich bileue? nai: war to?

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xxvi. 50 Jhesus seide to hym, Frend, wherto art thou comen?

1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 287 How sche that scharpe swerdes blad Receive scholde and do withal So as sche wot wherto it schal.

c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xxxii. 145 Qwhare to þan..gaders þou þe ricches of þis werld?

c1420 Prose Life Alex. 46 I ame..sent vn-to þe fra kyng Alexander to wiete where to þou taries to come till hym to gyffe hym batelle.

1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope iv What is that whiche thou berest on thy fyste and wher to is it [sc. a spere~hawk] good.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xii. l. 311 Quhar-to suld I her-off lang proces mak?

1561 T. Norton & T. Sackville Gorboduc iv. ii We marueyle muche wherto this lingeryng staie Falles out so longe.

1597 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 653 Quhairto suld he come heir?

1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. iii. 46 Whereto serues mercy But to confront the visage of offence?

1790 A. Shirrefs Poems 144 But whare-to did ye't, oman, lat me hear?

1900 A. Meynell John Ruskin vii. 119 Whereto, then, is the persuasion of this book directed?

II. Relative.

a. To which (in various senses of to prep.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > direction > [adverb] > to or towards some thing or place > to or towards which place or direction

thitherc897

whitherc950

whereto1340

wheretill1423

whereunto1490

whereupon1560

whereof1659

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 169 Þeruore is þe zeuende stape of þise uirtue þe ilke þet oure mayster Iesu crist deþ þerto huerto þe filozofes ne miȝte come.

c1440 Gesta Romanorum xxxiii. 352 The sone of a maide hath not wherto he may lay his hede.

1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Gi^v The frutes of the heuenly countre, wherto they go.

1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. ii. 19 This night I hold an old accustom'd Feast, Whereto I haue inuited many a guest.

1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet v. i. 206 That Lome whereto he was conuerted.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost viii. 398 Whereto th' Almighty answer'd, not displeas'd.

a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iii. 127 The perfection whereto their natures are destined.

1810 S. Vince Elem. Astron. (ed. 3) xxi. 230 A matter whereto I gave not all the attention requisite.

1887 W. Morris tr. Homer Odyssey I. xii. 220 The mast-step, whereto shall the cords be tied.

†b. In addition to or besides which (to prep. 15).

ΚΠ

1568 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xlvi. 27 Quhairto, till deif ȝow w^t tome clatter, Ar nane sic in the floit as scho.

†4. For which (purpose): cf. to prep. 8. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > intention > [adverb] > with this or that intention or purpose

thereforec1175

therefornea1300

whereto1535

hithera1538

thithera1616

hitherunto1635

hitherto1637

with this (or that) view1696

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. lv. C The worde also that commeth out of my mouth..shal..prospere in the thinge, wherto I sende it.

Derivatives

wheretoˈever adv. rare to whatever place, whithersoever.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > direction > [adverb] > to or towards some thing or place > to or towards any place

whithersoc950

owhitherOE

whithersoeverc1230

wheresoc1290

wheresoeverc1320

wherevera1400

wheresomever1470

anywhither1517

wheretosoever1609

wheretoever1635

1635 D. Person Varieties i. 5 Because the Heavens, of all the parts of the World are most conspicuous, as that wheretoever we bend our eyes, being the most glorious Creature.

wheretosoˈever adv. rare

ΘΚΠ