where

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English where, also wher,^[2][3] inherited from Old English hwǣr, also hwar and the two-syllable hwāra,^[4][5][6] from Proto-Germanic *hwar,^[7][8] formed from Proto-Indo-European *kʷo-, the stem of the interrogative pronouns, with a locative suffix Proto-Indo-European *-r.^[8][7][9] It is thus related to who and what, and formed like there and here.^[4][10][9] Its cognates include Old Frisian hwēr, Old Saxon hwār, Dutch waar, Old High German hwār, German wo (as in warum (“why”)), Old Norse hvar, Danish hvor and Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐍂 (ƕar).^{[5][11][9][8]} Kroonen explains the long vowel of the West Germanic forms as a lengthening in a word of one syllable.^[8] In Germanic the word is mostly limited to place, but outside it related forms ask other questions: Latin cūr (“why”), Welsh pyr (“why”), Lithuanian kur (“where”).^[9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In or at what place, in direct questions: the OED's first example is from the Vespasian Psalter, and Barnhart dates Old English hwær before 830, and about 725 in elles hwær, elsewhere, in Beowulf.^[11][5]

Semantic evolution

Old English already used the word in indirect questions, in rhetorical questions implying that someone or something has vanished, and for "to what place", where it has since taken over the work of whither.^[11][12] In Beowulf it was also used figuratively, "in what situation".^[11] An indefinite sense, "anywhere, somewhere", lasted until about 1500.^[11][7] Middle English formed many compounds with prepositions: whereof in the 12th century, and whereby, wherein and whereat in the 13th.^[4][5] After lo, see or behold, where meant "here" or "there" ("lo, where he comes") from about 1275 until 1839.^[11] The noun, "a place", appears in the 15th century,^[2][5] and where it's at is recorded from 1903 for the true nature of something and by 1968 for the centre of activity.^[7] Johnson (1755) defined it first as "at which place or places".^[13]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English hwær, in elles hwær, elsewhere, in Beowulf.^[5]
• before 830 – in or at what place.^[5][11]
• c. 1200 – Middle English whære, in the Ormulum.^[5]
• c. 1275 – after lo or see, meaning here or there (until 1839).^[11]
• c. 1445 – noun, a place.^[5][2]
• c. 1500 – last use for "anywhere, somewhere".^[11]
• 1903 – where it's at, the true nature of something.^[7]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In or at what place: Where did you park the car?^[14][2][11]
2. To what place: Where are they going for the summer?^[14][11][15]
3. In what situation or respect; at what point: Where did the plan go wrong?^[2][11][15]

Conjunction

1. At, in or to the place in which: Sit where you can see the stage.^[14][2]
2. Introducing a relative clause after a word for a place, time or situation: the village where she grew up.^[14][2]

Pronoun

1. What place: Where are you from?^[2]

Noun

1. A place or location, especially the place where something happens: They argued about the where and the when.^[2][5]

Related words

• who
• what
• when
• whither
• whence
• whereas
• wherefore
• whereabouts
• elsewhere
• nowhere
• there
• here

Usage notes

Where … at ("Where is she at?") and where … to ("Where is this going to?") are often criticized as redundant, and are rare in formal writing although common in educated speech.^[16] Where … from is fully standard.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
16. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House