why
Meanings
Adverb
- For what cause, reason, or purpose.
- For which cause, reason, or purpose.
- The cause, reason, or purpose for which.
Noun
Related
Similar words
- how come, wherefore, to what end, why so
- wherefore
Origin
- From Middle English why, from Old English hwȳ, from Proto-Germanic *hwī, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey, instrumental case of *kʷis, *kʷid.
- Cognate with Old Saxon hwī, hwiu, Middle High German wiu ("how, why"), archaic Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hvi, Norwegian Nynorsk kvi ("why"), Swedish vi ("why"), Faroese and Icelandic hví, Latin quī ("why"), Ancient Greek πεῖ ("where"). Compare Old English þȳ ("because, since, on that account, therefore, then"). See thy.
Modern English dictionary
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