anywhere

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈen.i.weə/, US /ˈen.i.wer/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English anywhere, a compound from English any + where,^[2][3][4] at first written separately.^[4] Earlier words in this sense were owhere, oughwhere and aywhere, literally “aught where”.^[2] It is related to nowhere, somewhere and everywhere.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In any place: about 1300 in the OED;^[5] Etymonline dates the adverb “in, at, or to any place” to the late 14th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The use that sets the limits of a range, anywhere from 40 to 60, is first recorded in 1897, as an American use.^[5][4] Merriam-Webster also gives the sense “to any extent, at all”, as in not anywhere near finished.^[6] The noun, “any place”, is dated to 1924 by Merriam-Webster.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – in any place.^[5]
• late 14th century – the adverb in Etymonline's dating.^[2]
• 1897 – anywhere from … to.^[5]
• 1924 – noun, any place.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adverb

1. In, at or to any place.
2. To any extent; at all.
3. Used to give the limits of a range: anywhere from 40 to 60 students.

Noun

1. Any place whatever.

Related words

• everywhere
• nowhere
• somewhere
• anybody
• anyone
• anything
• any
• where
• anyhow

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster