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Whereto vs Towards - What's the difference?

whereto | towards |

As adverbs the difference between whereto and towards

is that whereto is (archaic|interrogative) to what; to which place, whither? while towards is (obsolete) in the direction of something (indicated by context).

As a preposition towards is

variant of toward.

As an adjective towards is

(obsolete) near; at hand; in state of preparation; toward.

whereto

English

Adverb

(-)
  • (archaic, interrogative) To what; to which place, whither?
  • (obsolete, interrogative) To what end; why?
  • (archaic, relative) To which.
  • * 1658 , (Thomas Browne), The Garden of Cyrus :
    • According whereto Xenophon'' describeth his gallant plantation at ''Sardis'', thus rendred by ''Strebæus .

    See also

    * thereabout, thereas, thereafter, thereagainst, therebefore, thereat, thereby, therefor, therefore, therefrom, therein, thereinto, 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 * whereabout, whereas, whereafter, whereagainst, whereat, whereby, wherefore, wherefrom, wherein, whereinto, whereof, whereon, whereto, whereunder, whereupon, wherever, wherewith, wherewithal English pronominal adverbs English interrogative adverbs

    towards

    English

    Preposition

    (en-prep) (mainly in British English )
  • Variant of toward.
  • * 1835 , Sir , Sir (James Clark Ross), Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage …, Volume 1 , pp.284-5
    • Towards the following morning, the thermometer fell to 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 1, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Everton 0-2 Liverpool , passage=But with Goodison Park openly directing its full hostility towards Atkinson, Liverpool went ahead when Carroll turned in his first Premier League goal of the season after 70 minutes.}}

    Synonyms

    * toward

    Usage notes

    * Although some have tried to discern a semantic distinction between the words (term) and (towards), the difference is merely dialectal. (term) is the most common form, while (toward) tends to appear only in American English.

    See also

    * See

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (obsolete) In the direction of something (indicated by context).
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , II.iv:
    • Thus as he spake, lo far away they spyde / A varlet running towards hastily [...].

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (obsolete) Near; at hand; in state of preparation; toward.
  • * Shakespeare
    • We have a trifling foolish banquet / Towards .

    Statistics

    * English prepositions