whereby

Etymology

It is a compound from Middle English wher + bi, that is where and by.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Earliest recorded meaning

By means of which, according to which: about 1200, in the Trinity College Homilies.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to about 1200 in the sense "along which, through which",^[3] which the OED first records in 1297, in Robert of Gloucester's chronicle.^[2]

Semantic evolution

As a question word, whereby meant "by what means? how?" from 1377, in Langland's Piers Plowman,^[2][3] "why?" from before 1375 until the 15th century, and "near what? in what direction?" from before 1450.^[2] The relative sense "as a result of which", near "so that", is recorded from about 1380, in Wyclif.^[2] The question use is now rare or obsolete,^[7][4] and Merriam-Webster labels "near or along which" archaic,^[4] so that the word now mostly means "by which" or "according to which".^[4][8] In Scotland and in northern and eastern English dialects it was also a conjunction meaning "whereas, on which account".^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – by means of which.^[2][3]
• 1297 – along or near which.^[2]
• 1377 – by what means? how?^[2][3]
• c. 1380 – as a result of which.^[2]
• 1600 – whereupon, in Shakespeare (now dialectal).^[2]

Modern meaning

Adverb

1. By which; by means of which; according to which: a plan whereby every pupil gets a laptop.
2. (archaic) By what means? how?

Related words

• whereas
• whereupon
• wherefore
• hereby
• thereby

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)