Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adv. To or toward this place: Come hither.
- adj. Located on the near side.
- idiom. thither In or to many places; here and there: looked hither and thither for the ring; ran hither and yon.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To this place: used with verbs signifying motion: as, to come hither; to bring hither.
- To this time; up to the present time.
- To this point; to this end; to this argument or conclusion.
- On the side or in the direction of the person speaking; near: correlative of further: as, on the hither side of a hill.
- To come hither.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adv. To this place; -- used with verbs signifying motion, and implying motion toward the speaker; correlate of
hence andthither . - adv. To this point, source, conclusion, design, etc.; -- in a sense not physical.
- adj. Being on the side next or toward the person speaking; nearer; -- correlate of
thither andfarther . - adj. Applied to time: On the hither side of, younger than; of fewer years than.
WordNet 3.0
- adv. to this place (especially toward the speaker)
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old English hider; see ko- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Mat 22: 12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?”
The Long, Modest Gowns Painted by Peter Severin Kroyer (1851-1909)
“Now he had already said to the birds, ‘With me is a young man, a mere youth, whom destiny brought hither from a distant land; and I desire of you that ye take him up and carry him to his own country.’”
“Ibrahim, Wazir to King Shamikh; and the manner of my coming hither is wondrous and the cause thereof marvellous.”
“Lots of positive enthusiasm about my work and how the team was going to spread my name hither and yon among readers of the world.”
On jumping genres and what that may (or may not) mean to the Gischler
“One day, therefore, she called hither her son, Love (Cupid, some name him), and bade him sharpen his weapons.”
“One day, therefore, she called hither her son, Love [Cupid, some name him], and bade him sharpen his weapons.”
“And seeing an Arahant approaching the house-door, she bade him 'Come in hither, lord,' and did him homage, showing him to a seat; she then took his bowl and filled it with food.”
“Then as I stood there, I felt the door behind me yield a bit and a hand was thrust out, and a voice whispered, "Harry, Harry, come in hither; we can hold the house against an army.”
The Heart's Highway: A Romance of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century
“Indeed, I have no opportunity, for there they both are coming hither from the house.”
“When daylight came, Thaine Aydelot saw the frontier line that he had proudly felt himself called hither to push back, and the reality of it was awful.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘hither’.
-
Archaic
abide, abjure, abroad, adamant, afield, aforetime, aghast, anon, apace, argent, assuage, aught and 327 more...
-
Olde Englisc
English words of Anglo-Saxon origin.
onslaught, slain, clove, clave, thrice, nincompoop, scorn, storm, scant, lurk, beneath, atop and 143 more...
-
Unknown
coalition, cabinet, tweet, defuse, steep, ancestral, mindset, breach, infraction, egregious, curb, backbite and 280 more...
-
On with their heads!
Words that make other words with the addition of one letter at the beginning. The resulting words are tagged "behead".
men, his, yes, any, iota, limb, aged, laid, land, lead, read, word and 315 more...
reesetee Oooh! A triad! Dec 2, 2007
sonofgroucho I forgot yon!
Hither, Thither and Yon: sounds like an international law firm. Dec 2, 2007
reesetee And cousin yon. Dec 2, 2007
sonofgroucho Not to mention its unruly twin thither. Dec 2, 2007