thereof English · revision 39917

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Old English}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ðɛəˈɹɒv/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ðɛˈɹʌv/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|therof]], [[inh|ang|þǣrof]], also written separately,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Dictionary.com 2016)^(Klein 1966) formed from [[m|ang|þǣr|t=there]] and [[m|ang|of]], that is, [[there]] and [[of]].^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966) The Danish word [[m|da|deraf]] is a similar formation.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of that or of it: the OED's first example is from the Old English ''Leechdoms'',^(OED 2026) and Merriam-Webster dates the word to before the 12th century.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Besides the plain sense "of that", ''thereof'' was used from about 1175 for "of it" with the object of an action, and in the later Wycliffite Bible (1388) as a possessive, "its".^(OED 2026) The sense "from or out of that", of a source or cause, is recorded from c1230;^(OED 2026) Milton's "much more good thereof shall spring" is the Shorter Oxford's example, now rare.^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) Until 1669 it also stood where later English would use ''thereat'', ''therefore'' or ''therefrom''.^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) glossed it simply as "of that; of this".^(Johnson 1755) The word is now chiefly formal.^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – of that, of it.^(OED 2026)

+ * c1175 – of it, with the object of an action.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1200 – in obsolete uses such as "thereat" or "therefore" (to 1669).^(OED 2026)

+ * c1230 – from or out of that, as a source.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1388 – of it, as a possessive.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # (formal) Of that or of it; concerning that: ''the new rules and the enforcement thereof''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # (formal) From that or because of that; [[therefrom]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[thereby]]

+ * [[therein]]

+ * [[whereof]]

+ * [[hereof]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The phrase ''sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof'', from the Gospel of Matthew, keeps the word in its old sense "of it".^(Wiktionary)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}