why
Meanings
Noun
- the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase `the whys and wherefores'
- Reason.
- A young heifer.
- Alternative form of wye; the name of the Latin-script letter Y/y.
Adv
- For what cause, reason, or purpose.
- Introducing a complete question.
- For what cause, reason, or purpose.
- Introducing a complete question.
- With a negative, used rhetorically to make a suggestion.
- For what cause, reason, or purpose.
- Introducing a verb phrase (bare infinitive clause).
- For what cause, reason, or purpose.
- Introducing a noun or other phrase.
- For which cause, reason, or purpose.
- The cause, reason, or purpose for which.
Intj
- An exclamation used to express pleasant or unpleasant mild surprise, indignation, or impatience.
Verb
- To ask (someone) the question "why?".
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English why, from Old English hwȳ (“why”), from Proto-Germanic *hwī (“by what, how”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey, instrumental case of *kʷís (“who”), *kʷid (“what”).
Cognate with Old Saxon hwī (“why”), hwiu (“how; why”), Middle High German wiu (“how, why”), archaic Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hvi (“why”), Norwegian Nynorsk kvi (“why”), Swedish vi (“why”), Faroese and Icelandic hví (“why”), Latin quī (“why”), Doric Greek πεῖ (peî, “where”), Ukrainian чи (čy, “if”), Polish czy, Czech či (“or”), Serbo-Croatian či (“if”). Compare Old English þȳ (“because, since, on that account, therefore, then”, literally “by that, for that”). See thy.
Synonyms
for why, how come, to what end, what for, wherefore, why so
Scrabble Score: 12
why is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordwhy is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
why is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary