whither

Meanings

1. 1
   adv

   Interrogative senses.

   Whither wilt thou wander, wayfarer?

2. 2
   adv

   Relative senses.

   [W]e beſche thee, leaue vs not comfortles, but ſende to vs thine holy ghoſt to comfort vs, and exalte vs vnto thy ſame place, whither our ſauiour Chriſte is gone before: […].

3. 3
   noun

   A place to which someone or something goes; also, a condition to which someone or something moves.

   To knovv the local beginnings of vvinds, is a thing vvhich requires a deep ſearch and Inquiſition, ſeeing that the VVhence and VVhither of vvinds, are things noted even in Scripture to be abſtruſe and hidden.

4. 4
   noun

   A gust of wind; a bluster.

   I felt sure now that I was in the pensionnat—sure by the beating rain on the easement; sure by the ‘wuther’ of wind amongst trees, denoting a garden outside; sure by the chill, the whiteness, the solitude, amidst which I lay.

The verb is borrowed from Scots whidder, whither (“(of the wind) to bluster; to move quickly”), a frequentative form of whid (“(of wind) to gust; to move quickly”), of Scandinavian/North Germanic origin, from Old Norse hviða (“gust of wind”). Related to Middle English hwiþa, whyȝt (“breeze; wind”), Old English hwiþa, hwiþu, hweoþu (“breeze”). The noun is derived from the verb.

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