thereof

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English therof, inherited from Old English þǣrof, also written separately,^[2][3][4][5] formed from þǣr (“there”) and of, that is, there and of.^[2][6][7][5] The Danish word deraf is a similar formation.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of that or of it: the OED's first example is from the Old English Leechdoms,^[6] and Merriam-Webster dates the word to before the 12th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Besides the plain sense "of that", thereof was used from about 1175 for "of it" with the object of an action, and in the later Wycliffite Bible (1388) as a possessive, "its".^[6] The sense "from or out of that", of a source or cause, is recorded from c1230;^[6] Milton's "much more good thereof shall spring" is the Shorter Oxford's example, now rare.^[7][3] Until 1669 it also stood where later English would use thereat, therefore or therefrom.^[6] Johnson (1755) glossed it simply as "of that; of this".^[8] The word is now chiefly formal.^[7][9]

Timeline

• Old English – of that, of it.^[6]
• c1175 – of it, with the object of an action.^[6]
• a1200 – in obsolete uses such as "thereat" or "therefore" (to 1669).^[6]
• c1230 – from or out of that, as a source.^[6]
• 1388 – of it, as a possessive.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adverb

1. (formal) Of that or of it; concerning that: the new rules and the enforcement thereof.
2. (formal) From that or because of that; therefrom.

Related words

• thereby
• therein
• whereof
• hereof

Usage notes

The phrase sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, from the Gospel of Matthew, keeps the word in its old sense "of it".^[1][6]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins