Whith"er (?), adv. [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadrē whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
1. To what place; -- used interrogatively; as,
whither goest thou? "Whider may I flee?"
Chaucer.
Sir Valentine, whither
away so fast?
Shak.
2. To what or which
place; -- used relatively.
That no man should know . . . whither that he went.
Chaucer. We came unto the
land whither thou sentest us.
Num. xiii. 27. 3. To
what point, degree, end, conclusion, or design; whereunto; whereto; -- used in a sense not physical.
Nor have I . . .
whither to appeal.
Milton. Any whither, to any place;
anywhere. [Obs.] "Any whither, in hope of life eternal." Jer.
Taylor. -- No whither, to no place; nowhere. [Obs.] 2 Kings v.
25.
Syn. -- Where. -- Whither,
Where. Whither properly
implies motion to place, and where rest in a place.
Whither is now, however, to a great extent, obsolete, except in poetry, or in
compositions of a grave and serious character and in language where precision is required. Where has taken its place, as in the question, "Where are you going?"
Hear it pronounced