wherein

Etymology

It is wherin,^[2][3] a compound of where and in,^[4][5][6] with where in the sense "in which position or circumstances".^[5] Similar compounds are waarin, worin, vari and hvori.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a question, in what thing, matter or respect: c1230, in the religious tract Hali Meidenhad.^[4][7] Etymonline dates the word to about 1200,^[5] Dictionary.com to 1200–50 and Merriam-Webster to the 13th century.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

As a relative, "in which", it was used of a place, thing or piece of writing from about 1400, in Mandeville's Travels,^[4][6] and of a matter, fact or condition from about 1425.^[4] Etymonline finds the sense "by which, through which" by the mid-14th century.^[5] The sense "into which" is recorded from about 1400 to the late 16th century,^[4][6] and the sense "during which", of time, from 1535, in Coverdale's Bible.^[4][7] Johnson (1755) defined it simply as "In which", quoting Shakespeare's Henry VI: "Wherein have you been galled by the king?"^[8] The word is now archaic or formal.^[6][9]

Timeline

• c1230 – in what (matter or respect)?^[4]
• c1400 – in which (place, thing or writing); where.^[4]
• c1400 – into which (obsolete by the late 16th century).^[4][6]
• c1425 – in which (matter or fact); in respect of which.^[4]
• 1535 – during which (time).^[4]
• 1597 – that in which, used without an antecedent.^[4]

Modern meaning

Adverb

1. (archaic or formal) In what way or respect; how: Wherein did I fail you?

Conjunction

1. (formal) In which place, thing or document; where: the house wherein the poet was born.
2. During which: a long winter wherein little work was done.
3. In which respect; in what way: She showed them wherein the plan was weak.

Related words

• whereby
• wherefore
• whereupon
• therein

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
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