wherever

English

Alternative forms

• whereever (obsolete)

Etymology

From where +‎ ever.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /(h)wɛɹˈɛvɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /wɛəˈɹɛvə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛvə(ɹ)

Adverb

wherever (not comparable)

1. (interrogative) Where ever; an emphatic form of where.

   Wherever have you been all my life?

2. (informal) In, at or to any place that one likes or chooses.

   I don't care what you do with it; just put it wherever.

   Where do you want to have lunch? — Wherever; I don't mind.

3. (fused relative) The place (no matter where) in, at or to which.

   He's back from wherever he's been hiding.

   Go home to wherever you belong.

Usage notes

• Used emphatically, wherever may be two words (where ever) when used in questions, though the single word is more common, especially in US usage.

Synonyms

• everwhere (US, dialectal, Appalachia)

Translations

Conjunction

wherever

1. Regardless of the place in, at or to which.

   Wherever you go, I’ll find you.

   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, , →OCLC, Canto XVII, page 28:

     Henceforth, wherever thou may’st roam,
     ⁠My blessing, like a line of light,
     ⁠Is on the waters day and night,
     And like a beacon guards thee home.

2. In, at or to any place (that); anywhere.

   You can sit wherever you like.

3. In, at or to all places or situations (that); everywhere.

   Add quotations wherever they are needed.

   I see mistakes wherever I look.

   Our charity has limited funds, but we help wherever we can.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward. The slightest effort made the patient cough.

4. Used to show that one does not know where someone or something is located.

   She lives in Puddletown, wherever that is.

Translations

See also

• thereabout, thereafter, thereagainst, thereat, thereby, therefor, therefore, therefrom, therein, thereinafter, thereof, thereon, thereto, theretofore, thereunder, thereunto, thereupon, therewith, therewithal
• hereabout, hereafter, hereat, hereby, herein, hereinafter, hereinbefore, hereinto, hereof, hereon, hereto, heretofore, hereunto, hereunder, hereupon, herewith
• whereabouts, whereas, whereafter, whereat, whereby, wherefore, wherefrom, wherein, whereinto, whereof, whereon, whereto, whereunder, whereupon, wherever, wherewith, wherewithal