Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
adverb
- to or toward this place: to come hither.
adjective
- being on this or the closer side; nearer: the hither side of the meadow.
- hither and thither, in various quarters; here and there: They scurried hither and thither to escape the rain.
- hither and yon, from here to over there, especially to a farther place; in or to a great many places: He looked hither and yon for the coin. She went hither and yon in search of an answer.
adverb
- to or towards this place (esp in the phrase come hither)Also (archaic): hitherward, hitherwards
- hither and thither this way and that, as in a state of confusion
adjective
- archaic, or dialect (of a side or part, esp of a hill or valley) nearer; closer
Old English hider, from Proto-Germanic *hideran (cf. Old Norse heðra “here,” Gothic hidre “hither”), from Germanic demonstrative base *hi- (cf. he, here). Spelling change from -d- to -th- is the same evolution seen in father. Relation to here is the same as that of thither to there.
Also, hither and yon. Here and there, as in I’ve been wandering about, hither and thither, or Ruth went hither and yon, searching for her sister. These old words for “here” and “there” are rarely heard outside these expressions, which themselves may be dying out. [c. a.d. 725]