different between whither vs wilt

English

Etymology

From Old English hwider, alteration of hwæder, from Proto-Germanic *hwadrê.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /???ð?/; enPR: hw?th??r
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???ð?/
• (in accents with the wine-whine merger) IPA^(key): /?w?ð?/, /?w?ð?/
• Rhymes: -?ð?(?)
• Homophone: wither (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Adverb

whither (not comparable)

1. (archaic, formal, poetic or literary) To what place.
   • 1885, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Penguin Red Classics, paperback edition, page 24

     And with the same grave countenance he hurried through his breakfast and drove to the police station, whither the body had been carried.

   • 1918, Willa Cather, My Antonia, Mirado Modern Classics, paperback edition, page 8

     The wagon jolted on, carrying me I knew not whither.

Usage notes

• This word is unusual in modern usage; (to) where is much more common. It is more often encountered in older works or when used poetically or jocularly.
• It is also sometimes used as a rhetorical device by journalists and other writers in headlines, with the meaning "What will the future bring for ..."
• Do not confuse with whether or wither.
• Compare to the inanimate pronoun "whereto" which follows the pattern of "preposition + what" or "preposition + which".

Antonyms

• whence

Derived terms

Related terms

• hither
• thither
• whithersoever

Translations

Verb

whither (third-person singular simple present whithers, present participle whithering, simple past and past participle whithered)

1. (intransitive, obsolete, dialectal) To wuther.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /w?lt/
• Rhymes: -?lt

Etymology 1

Recorded since 1691, probably an alteration of welk, itself from Middle English welken, presumed from Middle Dutch (preserved in modern inchoative verwelken) or Middle Low German welken (“to wither”), cognate with Old High German irwelhen (“to become soft”).

Verb

wilt (third-person singular simple present wilts, present participle wilting, simple past and past participle wilted)

1. (intransitive) To droop or become limp and flaccid (as a dying leaf or flower).
2. (intransitive) To fatigue; to lose strength.
3. (transitive) To cause to droop or become limp and flaccid (as a flower).
4. (transitive) To cause to fatigue; to exhaust.

Translations

Noun

wilt (countable and uncountable, plural wilts)

1. The act of wilting or the state of being wilted.
2. (phytopathology) Any of various plant diseases characterized by wilting.

Translations

Etymology 2

Verb

wilt

1. (archaic) second-person singular simple present form of will
   • 1952, Bible (Revised Standard Version), Psalms 17:3

     If thou triest my heart, if thou visitest me by night, if thou testest me, thou wilt find no wickedness in me.

Anagrams

• IWLT

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?lt
• IPA^(key): /??lt/
• Homophone: wild

Verb

wilt

1. second-person singular present indicative of willen
2. (archaic) plural imperative of willen

Middle Dutch

Verb

wilt

1. inflection of willen:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person plural present indicative
   3. plural imperative