Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word wherefore. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word wherefore, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say wherefore in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word wherefore you have here. The definition of the word wherefore will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofwherefore, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Ah, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? / Denie thy Father, and refuſe thy name, / Or if thou wilt not be but ſworne my loue, / And il'e no longer be a Capulet.
And if he preached other than the right doctrine, wherefore did his superiors in the Carthusian convent permit it? If the shepherds turn a wolf in sheep's clothing into the flock, they should not blame the sheep for being worried.
1830, Joseph Smith Jr., chapter 4, in The Book of Mormon, Jacob:
For behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?
2010 March 17, House of the United States, House Resolution 1031:
Wherefore, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors and should be removed from office.
Usage notes
A common misconception is that wherefore means where; it is occasionally so used in retellings of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet—often for comedic effect. In Romeo and Juliet, the meaning of “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” (Act II, scene ii, line 33) is not “Where are you, Romeo?” but “Why are you Romeo?” (“Why do you have to be a Montague?”, that is, a member of the family which was feuding with Juliet’s family).
Wherefore, thus ſaith the holy one of Iſrael, Becauſe ye deſpise this word, and truſt in oppreſſion and peruerſeneſſe, and ſtay thereon: Therefore this iniquitie ſhalbe to you as a breach ready to fall, ſwelling out in a high wall, whoſe breaking commeth ſuddenly at an inſtant.
Wherefore it was that by the time the authorities awoke to the fact that something had happened Billy Byrne was fifty miles west of Joliet, bowling along aboard a fast Santa Fe freight.