Meaning

1 senses
  1. An intent or purpose; a why.

More definitions
  • the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase ‘the whys and wherefores’

Examples

6 sentences
  1. O Tom, Tom, wherefore art thou Tom?

  2. O Romeo Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

    deO Romeo, Romeo, warum bist du Romeo? — Sudajaengi

  3. O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · Objectivesea · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  4. O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

    deO Romeo, Romeo, warum bist du Romeo? — Sudajaengi

    CC0 · Tatoeba · shekitten · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  5. Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh.

    deDarum verlässt der Mann Vater und Mutter und hängt seiner Frau an und sie werden ein Fleisch. — Yorwba

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · carlosalberto · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Origin

From Middle English wherfor, wherfore, hwarfore, equivalent to where- (“what”) + for. Comp

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.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: wherefores

Synonyms

1 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase ‘the whys and wherefores’:why

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
wherefore — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto