Monday, December 16, 2013

Word of the Day

whitherward \HWITH-er-werd, WITH-\,
adverb:
Archaic. toward what place; in what direction.

West, West! Whitherward point hope and prophet- fingers, whitherward at sunset kneel all worshipers of fire, whitherward in mid-ocean the great whales turn to die, whitherward face all the Moslem dead in Persia, whitherward lie Heaven and Hell!
-- Herman Melville, "Mardi: And Voyage Thither," 1849

...the only question now was, Whitherward to vanish, in what hole to hide oneself!
-- Thomas Carlyle, "The French Revolution," 1837

Whitherward comes from Old English hwinder + -weard meaning "toward where?"

Dictionary.com