Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb To or toward this place.
  • adjective Located on the near side.
  • idiom (thither/yon) In or to many places; here and there.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • 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.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb To this place; -- used with verbs signifying motion, and implying motion toward the speaker; correlate of hence and thither.
  • adverb To this point, source, conclusion, design, etc.; -- in a sense not physical.
  • adverb to and fro; backward and forward; in various directions.
  • adjective Being on the side next or toward the person speaking; nearer; -- correlate of thither and farther.
  • adjective Applied to time: On the hither side of, younger than; of fewer years than.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb To this place, to here.
  • adverb here to
  • adverb over here
  • adjective archaic On this side; the nearer.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb to this place (especially toward the speaker)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English hider; see ko- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English hider. Cognate with Latin citer.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word hither.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Not to mention its unruly twin thither.

    December 3, 2007

  • And cousin yon.

    December 3, 2007

  • I forgot yon!

    Hither, Thither and Yon: sounds like an international law firm.

    December 3, 2007

  • Oooh! A triad!

    December 3, 2007