wherefore

wherefore

English

Alternative forms

• wherefor

Etymology

From Middle English wherfor, wherfore, hwarfore, equivalent to where- (“what”) +‎ for. Compare Dutch waarvoor (“what for, wherefore”), German wofür (“for what, what for, why”), Danish and Norwegian hvorfor (“wherefore, why”), Swedish varför (“wherefore, why”). More at where, for.

Pronunciation

• enPR: wâ(r)'fô(r)", hwâ(r)'fô(r)", IPA^(key): /ˈwɛə(ɹ)ˌfɔː(ɹ)/, /ˈʍɛə(ɹ)ˌfɔː(ɹ)/

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• (obsolete) enPR: hwûr'fôr", IPA^(key): /ˈʍɜːɹˌfɔːɹ/[1]
• Rhymes: -eə(ɹ)fɔː(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: where‧fore

Adverb

wherefore (not comparable)

1. (conjunctive, interrogative, archaic) Why, for what reason, because of what.
   • c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Juliet. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, published 1597, OCLC 503903918, [Act II, scene ii]:

     Ah, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? / Denie thy Father, and refuſe thy name, / Or if thou wilt not be but ſworne my loue, / And il'e no longer be a Capulet.

   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene i], page 11, column 2:

     VVherefore weepe you?

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Job 21:7, column 1:

     Wherefore doe the wicked liue, become old, yea, are mightie in power?

   • 1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter II, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series. […] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume III, Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, OCLC 17487293, page 27:

     And if he preached other than the right doctrine, wherefore did his superiors in the Carthusian convent permit it? If the shepherds turn a wolf in sheep's clothing into the flock, they should not blame the sheep for being worried.

   • 1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, chapter 1, in Bulldog Drummond:

     "Good morning, Mrs. Denny," he said. "Wherefore this worried look on your face? Has that reprobate James been misbehaving himself?"

2. (conjunctive, indicative, archaic or formal) Therefore.
   • 2010 March 17, House of the United States, House Resolution 1031‎:

     Wherefore, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors and should be removed from office.

Usage notes

A common misconception is that wherefore means where; it is occasionally so used in retellings of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet—often for comedic effect. In Romeo and Juliet, the meaning of “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” (Act II, scene ii, line 33) is not “Where are you, Romeo?” but “Why are you Romeo?” (“Why do you have to be a Montague?”, that is, a member of the family which was feuding with Juliet’s family).[2]

See also

• Category:English pronominal adverbs

Conjunction

wherefore

1. (archaic) Because of which.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Isaiah 30:12–13, column 1:

     Wherefore, thus ſaith the holy one of Iſrael, Becauſe ye deſpise this word, and truſt in oppreſſion and peruerſeneſſe, and ſtay thereon: Therefore this iniquitie ſhalbe to you as a breach ready to fall, ſwelling out in a high wall, whoſe breaking commeth ſuddenly at an inſtant.

   • 1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Mucker‎, All-Story Cavalier Weekly:

     Wherefore it was that by the time the authorities awoke to the fact that something had happened Billy Byrne was fifty miles west of Joliet, bowling along aboard a fast Santa Fe freight.

Translations

because of which

Bulgarian: защо (bg) (zašto), по каква причина (po kakva pričina) Czech: pročež (cs) Danish: hvorfor (da) Dutch: waarom (nl), waarvoor (nl) Finnish: minkä vuoksi, miksi (fi) French: d'où (fr) Georgian: რატომ (raṭom), რისთვის (ristvis) German: warum (de), weswegen (de), wofür (de) Gothic: 𐌳𐌿𐌸𐌸𐌴 (duþþē) Greek: γιατί (el) (giatí) Ancient: τοιγάρ (toigár), διό (dió), ᾗ (hêi) Hebrew: למה‎ (he) (lama), מדוע‎ (he) (madua) Italian: perché (it) Japanese: 何故 (ja) (naniyue) Norwegian: hvorfor (no) Nynorsk: korfor, kvifor (nn) Polish: dlaczego (pl) Portuguese: por quê (pt) Russian: почему́ (ru) (počemú), отчего (ru) (otčevo) Spanish: por qué (es) Swedish: varför (sv) Turkish: niçin (tr) Ukrainian: чому́ (čomú), з тако́ї причи́ни (z takóji pryčýny) Welsh: paham West Frisian: wêrom

Noun

wherefore (plural wherefores)

1. An intent or purpose; a why.
   • c. 1594, William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene ii], page 88, column 2:

     Ant[ipholus of Syracuse]. Shall I tell you why? / S. Dro. [Dromio of Syracuse] I, ſir, and wherefore; for they ſay, euery why hath a wherefore.

   • 1996, Richard Bausch, Good Evening Mr. & Mrs. America, and All the Ships at Sea, page 72:

     They want their money without reference to the hows and wherefores.

Derived terms

• whys and wherefores

See also

Here-, there-, and where- words

• (about): hereabout, thereabout, whereabout
• (abouts): hereabouts, thereabouts, whereabouts
• (after): hereafter, thereafter, whereafter
• (again): thereagain
• (against): thereagainst, whereagainst
• (among): thereamong, whereamong
• (amongst): whereamongst
• (around): therearound
• (as): thereas, whereas
• (at): hereat, thereat, whereat
• (before): herebefore, therebefore
• (beside): therebeside
• (between): therebetween, wherebetween
• (by): hereby, thereby, whereby
• (for): herefor, therefor, wherefor
• (fore): herefore, therefore, wherefore
• (from): herefrom, therefrom, wherefrom
• (hence): herehence, therehence
• (in): herein, therein, wherein
• (in after): hereinafter, thereinafter, whereinafter
• (in before): hereinbefore, thereinbefore, whereinbefore
• (into): hereinto, thereinto, whereinto
• (of): hereof, thereof, whereof
• (on): hereon, thereon, whereon
• (to): hereto, thereto, whereto
• (tofore): heretofore, theretofore, wheretofore
• (under): hereunder, thereunder, whereunder
• (unto): hereunto, thereunto, whereunto
• (upon): hereupon, thereupon, whereupon
• (with): herewith, therewith, wherewith
• (withal): herewithal, therewithal, wherewithal

 

References

1. Jespersen, Otto (1909) A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎, volume I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 4.36, page 124.
2. Gary Martin (1997–), “O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?”, in The Phrase Finder, retrieved 26 February 2017.