whitherwardadv.n.
/ˈwɪðəwəd/, U.S. /ˈ(h)wɪðərwərd/ archaic.
1. interrogative. Towards or to what place? in what direction? whither? †Also with reference to situation (nearly = whereabouts?). Also figurative or gen. Towards what?
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c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 17295 Þu ne mahht nohht..sen..Fra wheþenn warrd..he comm..Ne whiderr warrd he wendeþþ.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 161 Ðan þe safarinde men seð þe sa sterre, hie wuten sone wuderward hie sullen weie holden.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 307 Heo wende fram al hire kun,..& nuste an erþe ȝwderward, bote as þe wind blew.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 1246 ‘Þou most now ga To paradis...’ ‘Yai, sir, wist i wyderward Þat tat vncuth contre ware.’
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 5916 Ȝeueþ gode tent, Whederward þat Pers ys went.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Franklin's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 794 He..asked of hir whiderward she wente.
c1425 Wyntoun Cron. vi. xviii. 2008 For til wit..qweþirwart Þe thayne of Fiff þat tyme past.
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur vii. xiii. 232 Whether ward ar ye way ledyng this knyghte?
1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus v. v. sig. Aaivv Whytherwarde take I my iourneye? or whyther warde am I goynge?
1614 W. Browne Shepheards Pipe i. 510 Forth of auenture his way is went, But whither~ward he draw, he conceitlesse Was.
1801 R. Southey Thalaba I. v. 284 Unknowing whitherward to bend his way.
1851 T. Carlyle Life J. Sterling i. xi. 98 Whitherward to turn for a good course of life, was by no means too apparent.
1861 A. Trollope Framley Parsonage III. xi. 203 As one goes on pleasantly running down the path—whitherward?
2. relative.
a. as nominal relative: Towards the place that; usually in generalized or indefinite sense: Towards any place that, whithersoever.
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?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 130 Forto..foleȝe þe hwiderwart se þu wendest.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4984 Whudere-ward [c1300 Otho woder] þa ferde heore flæm makeden. Þe eorles heom siȝen to.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 2830 Whiderward as þei went al wast þei it founde.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. cxxix. 1382 Iter, itineris is a wey by þe which a man may go whiderward þat he wole.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 23523 Quidder-wart [Trin. Cambr. Whiderward so] an wil loke þai loke al-squa.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 21228 O sant mathu þe gospel-bok Quider-ward sum-euer he scok..wit [him] he bar.
1845 T. Carlyle in O. Cromwell Lett. & Speeches I. 294 Shall he..conduct the King whither-ward his Majesty wishes?
b. as simple relative: Towards which.
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1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) (1495) xiii. iii Þe wel springe and þe finalle ende whederward hit [sc. the river] renneþ.
1582 W. Allen Briefe Hist. Glorious Martyrdom sig. d3v Whitherwarde by longe and great trauail he came going about by Rome..and by Remes.
1597 T. Beard Theatre Gods Iudgements ii. xvii. 303 Bombadilla..was called home againe into Spaine: whitherward..as hee embarked himselfe..there arose..a horrible..tempest.
1895 Sat. Rev. 21 Sept. 374/1 Four guns are sent..to advanced posts up the nullah, whitherward they make their way by forest routes.
3. n. (nonce-use). Place towards which one goes.
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1877 J. S. Blackie Wise Men Greece 325 Athens hath no clew To track his whitherward.
Derivatives
ˈwhitherwards adv.
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c1320 Sir Beues (A.) 2037 At þe kniȝt he askede þo ‘Whider-wardes is Mombraunt?’
a1400 K. Alis. (Laud) 955 Who so wolde, he miȝth ryde..Whiderwardes so he wolde.
1909–10 W. F. Butler Autobiogr. (1911) xii. 186 Signs..indicating the whitherwards of coming events.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1924; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adv.n.c1175