entry
wherewithal
/ˈwɛə.wɪ.ðɔːl/Means or ability required to accomplish something
From Proto-Indo-European, through Proto-Germanic and English where (At or in what place) + Middle English, from with + all withal (With all).
Word Ancestry
English once built long strings of little directional words, as if language were assembling a verbal compass. Where began as Old English hwǣr, ultimately reaching back to the Indo-European interrogative stem *kʷ-, the same ancient family behind question words such as who and what. Withal was literally “with all,” a Middle English phrase that could mean “together with,” “besides,” or even “by means of.” Put them together in the 1530s and wherewithal first meant “with which”; only around 1800 did it settle into its now-familiar noun sense, “the means needed to do something.” So when someone lacks the wherewithal to repair the roof, the word is quietly asking: “With what, exactly, are you going to do it?”
The Story
English once built long strings of little directional words, as if language were assembling a verbal compass. Where began as Old English hwǣr, ultimately reaching back to the Indo-European interrogative stem *kʷ-, the same ancient family behind question words such as who and what. Withal was literally “with all,” a Middle English phrase that could mean “together with,” “besides,” or even “by means of.” Put them together in the 1530s and wherewithal first meant “with which”; only around 1800 did it settle into its now-familiar noun sense, “the means needed to do something.” So when someone lacks the wherewithal to repair the roof, the word is quietly asking: “With what, exactly, are you going to do it?”
Modern Usage
Informally, the common sense, nerve, or practical ability to do something
Kin & Kindred
From 'where'·At or in what place; in what way
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'withal'·With all; in addition; by means of that
Derived Terms
English words from this root