wherefore
/ˈweɹˌfɔɹ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.79 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Ah, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? / Denie thy Father, and refuſe thy name, / Or if thou wilt not be but ſworne my loue, / And il'e no longer be a Capulet."
- "VVherefore weepe you?"
- "Wherefore doe the wicked liue, become old, yea, are mightie in power?"
- "And if he preached other than the right doctrine, wherefore did his superiors in the Carthusian convent permit it? If the shepherds turn a wolf in sheep's clothing into the flock, they should not blame the sheep for being worried."
- ""Good morning, Mrs. Denny," he said. "Wherefore this worried look on your face? Has that reprobate James been misbehaving himself?""
- "For behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?"
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: wherfor
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈweɹˌfɔɹ/
- British English: /ˈwɛəˌfɔː/