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wherein

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Pronunciation

  • /wɛˈɹɪn/, /wɛəˈɹɪn/[1]

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.

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