hither

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See also: hithër

English

Etymology

From Old English hider, from Proto-Germanic *hidrê. Cognate with Latin citer.

Pronunciation

Adverb

hither (not comparable)

  1. (literary or archaic) To this place, to here.
    He went hither and thither.
    • c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :
      SATURNINUS: Go fetch them hither to us presently.
      TITUS: Why, there they are, both baked in that pie,
      Whereof their mother daintily hath fed,
      Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred.
    • 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 164:
      Unto her handmaid she cried,
      "Go fetch my gold harp hither to me,
      Sir Thynnè, I'll draw to my side."
    • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 280:
      But the road left the river again; there were certainly twistings and turnings, as the old woman had said, for at one moment it wound hither and the next thither, and at some places it was almost imperceptible.
    • 1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 44:
      "How now, you scullions and cullions: bring hither a pair of cow's hooves to out face this contumelious caitiff."
  2. over here

Usage notes

  • Compare to the pronominal adverb "hereto" which follows the pattern of "preposition + what" or "preposition + which".

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

hither (not comparable)

  1. (archaic) On this side; the nearer.
    Synonym: (literary) citerior
    • 1954, Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception, Chatto & Windus, page 30:
      The essential Not-self could be perceived very clearly in things and in living creatures on the hither side of good and evil.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

here there where
to hither thither whither
from hence thence whence
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