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

emphatic form of "where"

• Bulgarian: къде (bg) (kǎde), накъде (bg) (nakǎde)
• Catalan: onsevulla (ca)
• Danish: hvor (da), hvor i alverden
• Dutch: waar toch
• Esperanto: kie ajn
• Finnish: missä ihmeessä, missä kummassa, missä ikinä
• French: où donc
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: gdzież (pl), dokądże
• Russian: где́ же (ru) (gdé že) (location), куда́ же (ru) (kudá že) (direction)
• Scottish Gaelic: ge be àite
• Yiddish: וווּ נישט איז (vu nisht iz), וווּ נאָר (vu nor), וווּ סע זאָל נישט זײַן (vu se zol nisht zayn)

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

in any place, anywhere

• Arabic: أَيْنَ (ar) (ʔayna), أَيْنَمَا (ʔaynamā), حَيْثُمَا (ḥayṯumā)
• Bulgarian: където и да е (kǎdeto i da e)
• Catalan: onsevulga (ca), onsevol, onsevulla (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無論何處 / 无论何处 (zh) (wúlùnhéchù)

• Czech: kdekoli (cs), kamkoli (cs)
• Danish: hvor (da), hvor end
• Dutch: waar (nl), waar ook
• Esperanto: kie ajn
• Finnish: missä tahansa, missä vain, missä ikinä, mihin tahansa, mihin vain, mihin ikinä
• French: où (fr), là où (fr), quelque part que, où que (fr)
• Galician: nalgures (gl)
• German: wo auch immer, wo immer
• Greek: οπουδήποτε (el) (opoudípote)
• Italian: dovunque (it) (followed by the subjunctive)
• Japanese: どこでも (dokodemo)
• Latin: ubicumque, ubiubi
• Malay: di mana jua, di mana sahaja, ke mana jua, ke mana sahaja
• Ngazidja Comorian: haina mahala
• Norwegian: hvor enn
• Old Norse: hvars
• Plautdietsch: wua'emma
• Polish: gdziekolwiek (pl), dokądkolwiek (pl), gdzie tylko, dokąd tylko, gdzie nie, dokąd nie
• Portuguese: onde quer que
• Russian: где́ бы ни (gdé by ni), где́ бы (то) ни́ бы́ло (gdé by (to) ní býlo), где уго́дно (gde ugódno) (location), куда́ бы ни (kudá by ni), куда́ бы (то) ни́ бы́ло (kudá by (to) ní býlo), куда́ уго́дно (kudá ugódno) (direction)
• Scottish Gaelic: ge be àite
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: kudgod (sh), gdegod (sh)

• Spanish: dondequiera (es), donde sea, adondequiera (es) (whitherever)

in all places, everywhere

• Bulgarian: навсякъде където (navsjakǎde kǎdeto)
• Danish: hvor (da)
• Dutch: waar ook
• Finnish: missä tahansa, missä vain, missä ikinä
• French: partout où
• Galician: xalundes
• Greek: οπουδήποτε (el) (opoudípote)
• Italian: ovunque (it) followed by the subjunctive, dappertutto (it)
• Japanese: どこでも (dokodemo)
• Malay: di mana-mana
• Polish: wszędzie (pl)
• Portuguese: onde quer que
• Russian: везде́ (ru) (vezdé), повсю́ду (ru) (povsjúdu)
• Scottish Gaelic: ge be àite
• Yoruba: nibikibi

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Danish: ^{(please verify)} hvor end, ^{(please verify)} hvor som helst, ^{(please verify)} overalt hvor, ^{(please verify)} hvorhen end
• French: (followed by the subjunctive) ^{(please verify)} où que (fr)
• Malay: ^{(please verify)} di mana-mana, ^{(please verify)} ke mana-mana

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