1. The cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase 'the whys and wherefores'
   - why

1. For what reason

Derived forms: wherefores

Type of: ground, reason

• John Orley Allen Tate
• John Osborne
• John Paul I
• John Paul II
• John Paul Jones
• John Philip Marquand
• John Philip Sousa
• John Pierpont Morgan
• John Quincy Adams
• John R. Major
• John Reed
• John Robinson Jeffers
• John Rock
• John Roderigo Dos Passos
• John Roebling
• John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
• John Ross
• John Rowlands
• John Roy Major
• John Rupert Firth
• John Ruskin
• John Rutledge
• John Scopes
• John Scott Haldane
• John Simmons Barth