where

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Origin: See Whether.

Whether. [Sometimes written whe'r.] obsolete Vision of Piers Plowman

Men must enquire (this is mine assent), Wher she be wise or sober or dronkelewe.— Geoffrey Chaucer

Origin: OE. wher, whar, AS. hw…r; akin to D. waar, OS. hw…r, OHG. hwār, wār, wā, G. wo, Icel. and Sw. hvar, Dan. hvor, Goth. hwar, and E. who; cf. Skr. karhi when. √182. See Who, and cf. There.

1. At or in what place; hence, in what situation, position, or circumstances; — used interrogatively.

God called unto Adam,... Where art thou?— Gen. iii. 9.

☞ See the Note under What, pron., 1.

2. At or in which place; at the place in which; hence, in the case or instance in which; — used relatively.

She visited that place where first she was so happy.— Sir Philip Sidney

Where I thought the remnant of mine age Should have been cherished by her childlike duty.— William Shakespeare

Where one on his side fights, thousands will fly.— William Shakespeare

But where he rode one mile, the dwarf ran four.— Sir Walter Scott

3. To what or which place; hence, to what goal, result, or issue; whither; — used interrogatively and relatively; as, where are you going?

But where does this tend?— Oliver Goldsmith

Lodged in sunny cleft, Where the gold breezes come not.— William Cullen Bryant

☞ Where is often used pronominally with or without a preposition, in elliptical sentences for a place in which, the place in which, or what place.

The star... stood over where the young child was.— Matt. ii. 9.

The Son of man hath not where to lay his head.— Matt. viii. 20.

Within about twenty paces of where we were.— Oliver Goldsmith

Where did the minstrels come from?— Charles Dickens

☞ Where is much used in composition with preposition, and then is equivalent to a pronoun. Cf. Whereat, Whereby, Wherefore, Wherein, etc.

Where away Nautical, in what direction; as, where away is the land?

Synonyms: See Whither.

Whereas.

And flight and die is death destroying death; Where fearing dying pays death servile breath.— William Shakespeare

Place; situation. obsolete or colloquial

Finding the nymph asleep in secret where.— Edmund Spenser

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54