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Whereabout vs Whereby - What's the difference?

whereabout | whereby |

As adverbs the difference between whereabout and whereby

is that whereabout is (archaic) about which; concerning which while whereby is (interrogative|obsolete) by what, in which direction; how.

whereabout

English

Adverb

(-)
  • (archaic) About which; concerning which.
  • * Hooker
    • the object whereabout they are conversant
  • About where.

    • Derived terms

    * whereabouts English pronominal adverbs

    whereby

    English

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (interrogative, obsolete) By what, in which direction; how
  • By which.
  • * 1990 , Local management of schools , Kogan Page Ltd:
    • Other heads saw devolution as a whole new way of life and adopted an approach whereby the power of devolution was used to enable the school to drive the curriculum.
  • (nonstandard) Where.
  • * 1992 , The hotel receptionist , Paige, Jane and Paige, Grace, Cassell Educational:
    • This is an electronic system whereby executives are issued with small bleepers.

    Usage notes

    Use of whereby as a formal equivalent of where'' is nonstandard and is avoided by careful speakers and writers, who use ''where'' or ''in which instead. The term typically fails readability and comprehension review so it is generally avoided in published works. The term is also avoided by speakers as it makes it difficult to understand the message that is trying to be communicated.

    See also

    * thereabout, thereafter, thereagainst, thereat, thereby, therefor, therefore, therefrom, therein, thereinafter, thereof, thereon, thereto, theretofore, thereunder, thereunto, thereupon, therewith, therewithal * hereabout, hereafter, hereat, hereby, herein, hereinafter, hereinbefore, hereinto, hereof, hereon, hereto, heretofore, hereunto, hereunder, hereupon, herewith * whereabouts, whereas, whereafter, whereat, whereby, wherefore, wherefrom, wherein, whereinto, whereof, whereon, whereto, whereunder, whereupon, wherever, wherewith, wherewithal English pronominal adverbs