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Wherefore vs Whereby - What's the difference?

wherefore | whereby |

As adverbs the difference between wherefore and whereby

is that wherefore is why, for what reason, because of what while whereby is by what, in which direction; how.

As a conjunction wherefore

is because of which.

As a noun wherefore

is an intent or purpose; a why.

wherefore

English

Adverb

(-)
  • (conjunctive, archaic) Why, for what reason, because of what.
  • * 1920 , (Herman Cyril McNeile), Bulldog Drummond Chapter 1
    • "Good morning, Mrs. Denny," he said. "Wherefore this worried look on your face? Has that reprobate James been misbehaving himself?"
  • * "Job", Holy Bible King James Version, 21:7:
    • Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
  • * 1595 ,
    • Romeo, O Romeo. Wherefore art thou, Romeo?
  • * 1595 ,
    • Every why hath a wherefore .
  • (conjunctive, archaic, or, formal) Therefore.

    • Usage notes

    * A common misconception is that wherefore means where''; it has even been used in that sense in cartoon depictions of Romeo and Juliet, often played for comedic effect. In ''Romeo and Juliet'', the meaning of “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” () is not “''Where'' are you, Romeo?” but “''Why are you Romeo?” (i.e. “Why did you have to be a Montague?”).

    See also

    *

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • (archaic) Because of which.
  • :* Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
    Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.     (Isaiah 30:12-13)
  • :* {{quote-book
    • , year=1914 , year_published=2009 , edition=HTML , editor= , author=Edgar Rice Burroughs , title=The Mucker , chapter= citation , genre= , publisher=The Gutenberg Project , isbn= , page= , passage=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. }}

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An intent or purpose; a why.
  • *

    • Derived terms

    * whys and wherefores

    References

    English conjunctive adverbs English pronominal adverbs

    whereby

    English

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (interrogative, obsolete) By what, in which direction; how
  • By which.
  • * 1990 , Local management of schools , Kogan Page Ltd:
    • Other heads saw devolution as a whole new way of life and adopted an approach whereby the power of devolution was used to enable the school to drive the curriculum.
  • (nonstandard) Where.
  • * 1992 , The hotel receptionist , Paige, Jane and Paige, Grace, Cassell Educational:
    • This is an electronic system whereby executives are issued with small bleepers.

    Usage notes

    Use of whereby as a formal equivalent of where'' is nonstandard and is avoided by careful speakers and writers, who use ''where'' or ''in which instead. The term typically fails readability and comprehension review so it is generally avoided in published works. The term is also avoided by speakers as it makes it difficult to understand the message that is trying to be communicated.

    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 English pronominal adverbs