hither

adv, adj, verb — 4 senses

hither

adv

UK /ˈhɪðə/ · US /ˈhɪðɚ/

Etymology From Old English hider, from Proto-Germanic *hidrê. Cognate with Latin citer.

1

Archaic, Literary To this place, to here.

  • He went hither and thither.
  • SATURNINUS: Go fetch them hither to us presently. TITUS: Why, there they are, both baked in that pie, Whereof their mother daintily hath fed, Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred.c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
3 more examples
  • Unto her handmaid she cried, "Go fetch my gold harp hither to me, Sir Thynnè, I'll draw to my side."1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 164:
  • But the road left the river again; there were certainly twistings and turnings, as the old woman had said, for at one moment it wound hither and the next thither, and at some places it was almost imperceptible.1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 280:
  • "How now, you scullions and cullions: bring hither a pair of cow's hooves to out face this contumelious caitiff."1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 44:
2

over here

Antonyms
hence
Derived terms
behither, come-hither, come hither, hither and thither, hither and yon, hither and yonder, hithermost, hitherside, hitherto, hithertofore, hitherunto, hitherward, hitherwards
Related terms
thither, whither

hither

adj

Etymology From Old English hider, from Proto-Germanic *hidrê. Cognate with Latin citer.

1

Archaic On this side; the nearer.

  • The essential Not-self could be perceived very clearly in things and in living creatures on the hither side of good and evil.1954, Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception, Chatto & Windus, page 30:
Derived terms
Hither Green
Related terms
this place, that place, what place, at, here, there, where, to, thither, whither, from, hence, thence, whence

hither

verb

Etymology From Old English hider, from Proto-Germanic *hidrê. Cognate with Latin citer.

1

only used in the phrase hither and thither

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.