therefor

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English therfor, one of the spellings of therfore,^[2][3][4][5] formed from Middle English ther (“there”) + fore (“for”).^[2][6][7] It is thus the same word as therefore: after the final -e of fore fell silent, the preposition was levelled with for, and the adverb was often written therfor or therefor.^[7] Etymonline traces it to Old English þærfore,^[5] while the OED takes the compound as formed in early Middle English.^[7] In modern use the word may be felt as there plus for.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

For that, for it, and by reason of that: about 1175, in the Lambeth Homilies.^[7] Dictionary.com dates the Middle English word to 1125–75, and Merriam-Webster Unabridged to the 12th century.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

For centuries one word, spelled therfor, therfore or therefore, served both for "for that thing" and for "in consequence of that";^[7][2] Chaucer's uses of the word, glossed "therefore", include therfore over 300 times and therfor 8 times.^[8][7] Since about 1800 the two senses have been told apart in spelling and stress: therefor, stressed on the second syllable, keeps the sense "for that, for it", and therefore, stressed on the first, the sense "consequently".^[7][5] The OED labels therefor formal or archaic,^[7] Collins calls it archaic,^[9] and Black's Law Dictionary records it as a legal term.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – for that, for it; by reason of that.^[7]
• c. 1800 – therefor and therefore differentiated in spelling and stress.^[7][5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. (formal or archaic) For that or for it; in return for that: The tenant damaged the fence and was billed therefor.^{[2][9][7][10]}

Related words

• therefore
• there
• for

Usage notes

Therefor is easily confused with therefore, "for that reason, consequently".^[2][4] The two are the same word in origin, but since about 1800 therefor (stressed on -for) means only "for that, for it", as in a legal phrase like the reasons therefor, while therefore (stressed on there-) introduces a consequence.^[7][5][2] Dictionary.com lists the two as easily confused words.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West