Where does “wherewith” come from?
Wherewith comes from English with and the suffix -where, ultimately derived from Old English wiþ and Proto-Indo-European roots kʷo-, -r, wī-, and weye-.
wherewith (English): With which; with what; Something with which; the...
Definitions
- With which; with what; Something with which; the...
Ancestry of “wherewith”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | wherwith | — |
| 2 | Middle English | wiþ | with |
| 3 | Old English | wiþ | against, opposite; along, towards; with |
| 4 | Old English | wiþer | toward, against; again, against; against, in... |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | wiþr | toward, against |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | wiþrą | toward, against |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | wī-tero- | further apart |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | wi | apart, asunder; away from, against |