Wherein

How to spell wherein

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce wherein

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does wherein mean?

1. adverbIn which place, situation, document, or respect; used to introduce a clause specifying where or in what something happens.

Wherein in a sentence

• The contract contains a clause wherein both parties agree to binding arbitration.

• She described the situation wherein the budget had already been spent.

Where does wherein come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Wherein is a native English compound that has been part of the language since the Old English period. It joins the locative word 'where', which descends from Old English 'hwaer' meaning 'in what place', with the preposition 'in', producing a single word that literally means 'in which' or 'in what'. This pattern of fusing 'where' with a preposition gave English a whole family of formal adverbs, including 'whereby', 'whereof', 'wherefore' and 'whereupon', most of which now sound legal or literary. Wherein flourished in the King James Bible and in legal drafting, where it neatly avoids the clumsier 'in which'. The spelling is reassuringly transparent, since it is simply the two familiar pieces 'where' and 'in' written together with no letters lost.

How the word is built

• where (in what place/which)
• -in (preposition, in)