wherewithal

English

WOTD – 15 September 2009

Etymology

From where +‎ withal.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈwɛə.wɪ.ðɔːl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈwɛɚ.wɪ.ðɔl/, /ˈwɛɚ.wɪ.θɔl/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈwɛɚ.wɪ.ðɑl/, /ˈwɛɚ.wɪ.θɑl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

wherewithal (countable and uncountable, plural wherewithals)

1. The ability and means required to accomplish some task.

   I would like to help your project, but I do not have the wherewithal.

   • 1688, John Dryden, The Life of St Francis Xavier, book II, translation of original by Dominique Bouhours:

     Justice was sold at the tribunals, and the most enormous crimes escaped from punishment, when the criminals had wherewithal to corrupt their judges.

   • 1954, Edward Eager, Half Magic:

     Big Council meeting! At the bookshop in twenty minutes. Carfare will be refunded. Can we scrape together the wherewithal?

   • 1986, David Leavitt, The Lost Language of Cranes, paperback edition, Penguin, page 67:

     "I just can't imagine," Philip said, "having that kind of self-knowledge, that kind of...wherewithal at fifteen. […] "

   • 2011 December 15, Felicity Cloake, “How to cook the perfect nut roast”, in Guardian‎^[1]:

     […] A single slice of this could leave you supine in front of the Queen's speech without even the wherewithal to reach for the remote control.

   • 2019, John O’Connell, Bowie's Bookshelf, →ISBN:

     Although Emma comes to realise she's trapped in a kind of hell, married to a dullard she despises, she lacks the intellectual wherewithal to plot a breakout more sophisticated than consorting with idiots such as Leon and Rodolphe.

   • 2022, Gary Gerstle, chapter 8, in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order […] , New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, Part II. The Neoliberal Order, 1970–2020:

     In political economic terms, the pandemic worked to intensify a development that the decline in the neoliberal order had already set in motion: namely, a conviction that government was the only institution with the wherewithal to address severe economic and social hardship.

Translations

the ability and means to accomplish some task

• Catalan: mitjans (ca) m pl
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 資金／资金 (zh) (zījīn), ^{(please verify)} 手段 (zh) (shǒuduàn)

• Czech: prostředky (cs) m pl
• Dutch: middelen (nl)
• Finnish: kyky (fi), varat (fi)
• French: moyens (fr) m pl
• German: Mittel (de) n pl, Geldmittel (de) n pl, Mittel und Wege pl (idiom)
• Hungarian: hozzávalók pl, a szükséges eszköz/összeg, anyagiak pl
• Italian: occorrente (it) m, mezzi (it) m pl, necessario (it) m
• Japanese: 甲斐性 (ja) (kaishou)
• Portuguese: meios (pt) m pl, recursos (pt) m pl
• Romanian: resurse (ro) f pl
• Spanish: medios (es) m pl
• Swedish: varmed (sv)

Adverb

wherewithal (not comparable)

1. (archaic) In what way; how.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 119:9:

     Wherewithall shall a yong man cleanse his way? by taking heede thereto according to thy word.

2. (archaic) By means of which.

   Synonyms: whereby, wherewith

   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 41, column 2:

     Rich. Northumberland, thou Ladder wherewithall / The mounting Bullingbrooke aſcends my Throne

Translations

in what way; how

• Dutch: waarmede (nl)
• Finnish: kuinka (fi), miten (fi)
• German: wodurch (de), womit (de)
• Italian: come (it)

Related terms

• wherewith
• withal

See also

Here-, there-, and where- words

• (about): hereabout, thereabout, whereabout
• (abouts): hereabouts, thereabouts, whereabouts
• (after): hereafter, thereafter, whereafter
• (again): thereagain
• (against): hereagainst, thereagainst, whereagainst
• (among): hereamong, thereamong, whereamong
• (amongst): thereamongst, whereamongst
• (around): therearound, wherearound
• (as): thereas, whereas
• (at): hereat, thereat, whereat
• (before): herebefore, therebefore
• (beside): therebeside
• (between): therebetween, wherebetween
• (by): hereby, thereby, whereby
• (for): herefor, therefor, wherefor
• (fore): herefore, therefore, wherefore
• (from): herefrom, therefrom, wherefrom
• (hence): herehence, therehence
• (in): herein, therein, wherein
• (in after): hereinafter, thereinafter, whereinafter
• (in before): hereinbefore, thereinbefore, whereinbefore
• (into): hereinto, thereinto, whereinto
• (of): hereof, thereof, whereof
• (on): hereon, thereon, whereon
• (out): hereout, thereout, whereout
• (to): hereto, thereto, whereto
• (tofore): heretofore, theretofore, wheretofore
• (under): hereunder, thereunder, whereunder
• (unto): hereunto, thereunto, whereunto
• (upon): hereupon, thereupon, whereupon
• (with): herewith, therewith, wherewith
• (withal): herewithal, therewithal, wherewithal