wherever

wherever

English

Alternative forms

• whereever (obsolete)

Etymology

From where +‎ ever.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /(h)wɛɹˈɛvɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /wɛəˈɹɛvə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛvə(ɹ)

Adverb

wherever (not comparable)

1. (interrogative) Where ever; an emphatic form of where.

   Wherever have you been all my life?

2. (informal) In, at or to any place that one likes or chooses.

   I don't care what you do with it; just put it wherever.

   Where do you want to have lunch? — Wherever; I don't mind.

3. (fused relative) The place (no matter where) in, at or to which.

   He's back from wherever he's been hiding.

   Go home to wherever you belong.

Usage notes

• Used emphatically, wherever may be two words (where ever) when used in questions, though the single word is more common, especially in US usage.

Synonyms

• everwhere (US, dialectal, Appalachia)

Translations

emphatic form of "where"

Bulgarian: къде (bg) (kǎde), накъде (bg) (nakǎde) Catalan: onsevulla (ca) Danish: hvor (da), hvor i alverden Dutch: waar toch Esperanto: kie ajn Finnish: missä ihmeessä, missä kummassa, missä ikinä French: où donc Japanese: please add this translation if you can Polish: gdzież (pl), dokądże Russian: где́ же (ru) (gdé že) (location), куда́ же (ru) (kudá že) (direction) Scottish Gaelic: ge be àite Yiddish: וווּ נישט איז‎ (vu nisht iz), וווּ נאָר‎ (vu nor), וווּ סע זאָל נישט זײַן‎ (vu se zol nisht zayn)

Conjunction

wherever

1. Regardless of the place in, at or to which.

   Wherever you go, I'll find you.

2. In, at or to any place (that); anywhere.

   You can sit wherever you like.

3. In, at or to all places or situations (that); everywhere.

   Add quotations wherever they are needed.

   I see mistakes wherever I look.

   Our charity has limited funds, but we help wherever we can.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 4293071:

     If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward. The slightest effort made the patient cough.

4. Used to show that one does not know where someone or something is located.

   She lives in Puddletown, wherever that is.

Translations

in any place, anywhere

Arabic: أَيْنَ‎ (ar) (ʾayna), أَيْنَمَا‎ (ʾaynamā), حَيْثُمَا‎ (ḥayṯumā) Bulgarian: където и да е (kǎdeto i da e) Catalan: onsevulga (ca), onsevol, onsevulla (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 無論何處／无论何处 (zh) (wúlùnhéchù) Czech: kdekoli (cs), kamkoli (cs) Danish: hvor (da), hvor end Dutch: waar (nl), waar ook Esperanto: kie ajn Finnish: missä tahansa, missä vain, missä ikinä, mihin tahansa, mihin vain, mihin ikinä French: où (fr), là où (fr), quelque part que, où que (fr) Galician: nalgures (gl) German: wo auch immer, wo immer Greek: οπουδήποτε (el) (opoudípote) Italian: dovunque (it) (followed by the subjunctive) Japanese: どこでも (dokodemo) Latin: ubicumque, ubiubi Malay: di mana jua, di mana sahaja, ke mana jua, ke mana sahaja Ngazidja Comorian: haina mahala Norwegian: hvor enn Old Norse: hvars Plautdietsch: wua'emma Polish: gdziekolwiek (pl), dokądkolwiek, gdzie tylko, dokąd tylko, gdzie nie, dokąd nie Portuguese: onde quer que Russian: где́ бы ни (gdé by ni), где́ бы (то) ни́ бы́ло (gdé by (to) ní býlo), где уго́дно (gde ugódno) (location), куда́ бы ни (kudá by ni), куда́ бы (то) ни́ бы́ло (kudá by (to) ní býlo), куда́ уго́дно (kudá ugódno) (direction) Scottish Gaelic: ge be àite Serbo-Croatian: Roman: kudgod (sh), gdegod (sh) Spanish: adondequiera (es)

in all places, everywhere

Bulgarian: навсякъде където (navsjakǎde kǎdeto) Danish: hvor (da) Dutch: waar ook Finnish: missä tahansa, missä vain, missä ikinä French: partout où Galician: xalundes Greek: οπουδήποτε (el) (opoudípote) Italian: ovunque (it) followed by the subjunctive, dappertutto (it) Japanese: どこでも (dokodemo) Malay: di mana-mana Polish: wszędzie (pl) Portuguese: onde quer que Russian: везде́ (ru) (vezdé), повсю́ду (ru) (povsjúdu) Scottish Gaelic: ge be àite Yoruba: nibikibi

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Danish: (please verify) hvor end, (please verify) hvor som helst, (please verify) overalt hvor, (please verify) hvorhen end French: (followed by the subjunctive) (please verify) où que (fr) Malay: (please verify) di mana-mana, (please verify) ke mana-mana Spanish: (1) (please verify) doquier (es), (1) (please verify) dondequiera (es), (1) (please verify) donde sea, (2) (please verify) donde (es)

See also

• thereabout, thereafter, thereagainst, thereat, thereby, therefor, therefore, therefrom, therein, thereinafter, thereof, thereon, thereto, theretofore, thereunder, thereunto, thereupon, therewith, therewithal
• hereabout, hereafter, hereat, hereby, herein, hereinafter, hereinbefore, hereinto, hereof, hereon, hereto, heretofore, hereunto, hereunder, hereupon, herewith
• whereabouts, whereas, whereafter, whereat, whereby, wherefore, wherefrom, wherein, whereinto, whereof, whereon, whereto, whereunder, whereupon, wherever, wherewith, wherewithal