wherever

Pronunciation

• IPA: /wɛəˈɹɛvə/ (UK); /(h)wɛɹˈɛvɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English wher ever, ware euere, from where and ever.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an emphatic form of the question where?: 971 in the OED.^[5] As a relative, at whatever place: before 1300 in the OED, the late 13th century in Etymonline.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

To any place to which is from about 1375,^[5] and at any place, somewhere or other, from 1667, the 1660s in Etymonline.^[5][2] In any circumstances in which is from 1600.^[5] Poetry contracts it to where'er.^[2][4] The parallel form wheresoever is by about 1200.^[2]

Timeline

• 971 – emphatic where?^[5]
• before 1300 – at whatever place.^[5][2]
• c. 1375 – to whatever place.^[5]
• 1667 – at some place or other.^[5]

Modern meaning

Conjunction

1. In or to whatever place or situation: sit wherever you like.

Adverb

1. (informal) Used for emphasis in a question, in place of where: wherever did you find it?.
2. At any place, no matter where.

Related words

• where
• ever
• wheresoever
• whenever
• however

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press