What does "hither" mean?
Hither: To this point, source, conclusion, design, etc.; -- in a sense not physical. Hither we refer whatsoever belongeth unto the highest perfection of man. Hooker. Hither and thither, to and fro; backward and forward; in various directions. "Victory is like a traveller, and goeth hither and thither." Knolles.
Additional senses
- 2.Being on the side next or toward the person speaking; nearer; -- correlate of thither and farther; as, on the hither side of a hill. Milton.
- 3.Applied to time: On the hither side of, younger than; of fewer years than. And on the hither side, or so she looked, Of twenty summers. Tennyson. To the present generation, that is to say, the people a few years on the hither and thither side of thirty, the name of Charles Darwin stands alongside of those of Isaac Newton and Michael Faraday. Huxley.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00