Where does “whither” come from?
Whither comes from Old English hwider, from Proto-Germanic hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European kʷos, ultimately from the root kʷ-.
whither (English): To what place; To wuther
Ancestry of “whither”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | whider | — |
| 2 | Old English | hwider | to where, whither |
| 3 | Old English | hwæder | Alternative form of hwider |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | *hwadrê | — |
Words derived from “whither”