I. (|)hw]e(ə)r, (|)w], ]eə sometimes ]a(a)(ə)r or ]a (a)ə; when completely unstressed often (h)wə(r); more often under secondary than primary stress (h)wər(.) or (h)wə̄\ adverb
Etymology: Middle English where, wher, from Old English hwǣr; akin to Old High German hwār where, Old Norse hvar, Gothic hwar where, Sanskrit kar hi when, Old English hwā who — more at who
1.
a.
(1) : at or in what place
where do you think you are
asked him where he lived
where's the fire
(2) : in what situation, position, or circumstances : at what point
where , precisely, should a man's crusading zeal abate — Lucien Price
where else numerically are you going to draw the line — Weston La Barre
(3) : in what respect or particular
does not hesitate, as he looks back, to admit where he was wrong — Times Literary Supplement
b. : to what or which place : in what or which direction : to what goal or result : whither
where are you rushing
doesn't know where he is heading
c. : from what place or source
where did he get such an absurd idea
2. archaic : here , there — used to call attention to something or indicate direction of movement
but soft, behold! lo, where it comes again — Shakespeare
3. : at which part, stage, or passage
I forget where we were reading
II. conjunction
Etymology: Middle English where, wher, from Old English hwǣr, from hwǣr, adverb
1.
a. : at or in the place in which
where you lodge I will lodge — Ruth 1:16 (Revised Standard Version)
b. : to the place at, in, or to which
where you go I will go — Ruth 1:16 (Revised Standard Version)
: a place at, in, or to which
couldn't see well from where he was sitting
c. : at the part, stage, or passage at which
toward the end of the book, where the author tells of the heroine's return home
2. : wherever
removed all restrictions on his movements and permitted him to go where he wished
3. : at or in which place
the room where he was working
the store where she bought her clothes
4. : whereas
where she was fascinated by people he shows here only a laboriously sophisticated amusement — Anthony Quinton
5.
a. : under conditions in which : in circumstances in which
it is unfortunately necessary to determine this where the custody of the children is involved — Louis Auchincloss
b. : in the respect in which
where others are weak, he is strong
c. : so far as : to the extent that
the prospects … were truly and literally hopeless, where England was concerned — Sacheverell Sitwell
d. : of such a sort that
limited definition to such explanations of the meaning of a symbol as asserted the equivalence of two expressions; where the defining expression had to contain more symbols than the defined expression — R.G.F.Robinson
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English where, wher, from where, wher, adverb
: location , place ; especially : the place in which something mentioned is or occurs
discussed the where and how of the accident
IV. pronoun
Etymology: where (I)
: what or which place
where did you come from
V. noun
•
- where it's at