whereon, adv. Now formal or arch.
(hwɛərˈɒn)
[f. where 15 + on prep. Cf. Du. waaraan, G. woran.]
I. 1. interrog. On what?
| c 1205 Lay. 15516 Ne mihten heo nauere finden..whær on hit weore ilong. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1310 Ðo wurð ðe child witter and war Ðat ðor sal offrende ben don, Oc ne wiste he quuat, ne quor-on. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 268 Quare-on muse ȝe sa mekill, maister? 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. iii. 59 Tell me whereon the likelihood depends? 1602 ― Ham. iii. iv. 124 Whereon do you looke? 1611 Bible 2 Chron. xxxii. 10 Whereon doe ye trust, that yee abide in the siege in Ierusalem? 1755 Johnson s.v., Whereon did he sit? |
II. rel. On which.
2. Of local position (on prep. 1–4).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 16762 + 116 Til our lord in erth so mikel was not leued, Whar on þat he miȝt rest on is wery heued. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xi. 48 A stane wharon oure Lord satt and preched. a 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 5 Ane gudlie grene garth,..Hegeit..with hawthorne treis; Quhairon ane bird..birst out hir notis. 1539 Bible (Great) Exod. iii. 5 Y⊇ place whereon thou stondest is holy grounde. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. i. ii. 164 A horse whereon the Gouernor doth ride. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 526 He [sc. the Serpent] lick'd the ground whereon she trod. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. xlix, On yon long level plain, at distance crown'd With crags, whereon those Moorish turrets rest. 1896 A. Morrison Child Jago xiv, The ground was bought whereon should be built a church. |
3. Of time, esp. with antecedent day (on prep. 6).
| 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. h vj, The astrologians estiming ye haill varieteis of ye change to tak end in 19 ȝeres and returne yairefter to ye same dayes quhairon yai fell before. 1595 Shakes. John iv. ii. 156 On that day at noone, whereon he sayes, I shall yeeld vp my Crowne. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa iii. 138 Vpon eight seuerall daies of the yeere besides, whereon the Moores feastes are solemnized. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam v. xxxvii, The eve of that great day Whereon the many nations..Decreed to hold a sacred Festival. 1883 Whitelaw Sophocles, Electra 278 That fatal day whereon Our father by her treachery she slew. |
4. Of immediately subsequent or consequent action (on prep. 7). Now more usually whereupon (sense 4).
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. ii. 81 Your Highnesse..strooke me..Whereon (as an Offender to your Father) I..did commit you. 1685 Fountainhall Hist. Obs. (Bannatyne Club) 146 He..had very near shot Douglas himselfe dead, had not the Whig's carabine misgiven, wheron Douglas pistoled him presently. 1863 Kingsley Water-Bab. iii, Whereon she curled up her lip. 1885–94 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche Mar. xxi, Whereon she quickly led him down on earth, And show'd him Psyche. |
5. Of motion or direction to or towards (on prep. 14–16): Onto which.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 1896 Noe..Lete vte a doue þat tok hir flight And fand na sted quare-on to light. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 310 Ane skaffald quhairon they pat this innocent man. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 897 He..will therein set His triple-colour'd Bow, whereon to look And call to mind his Cov'nant. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Glass, The Table, whereon the Glass is to be run, is of Pot Metal. 1800 Bloomfield Farmer's Boy, Spring 259 The oaken shelf whereon 'tis laid. |
6. In reference to the object of an action, feeling, etc., and in various constructional uses (on prep. 20–22, 29).
| 1340 Ayenb. 176 Verst be þe heauede, hueran me zet ofte grat cost. 1526 Tindale John iv. 38, I sent you to repe that wheron ye bestowed no laboure. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. iii. 47 To thinke, that you haue ought but Talbots shadow, Whereon to practise your seueritie. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. iii. §3 If the string whereon he striketh chaunce to be vncapable of harmonie. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. i. i. 2 If you shall chance..to visit Bohemia, on the like occasion whereon my seruices are now on-foot. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 676 Fly-blown flesh whereon the maggot feeds. 1821 Shelley Ginevra 193 A corpse whereon A vulture has just feasted. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xxi, I take the grasses of the grave, And make them pipes whereon to blow. |
† 7. Of which, whereof (on prep. 27). Obs.
| c 1420 ? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 48 To declare her greefe of the gret offence To theym done by Eolus, wheron they compleynyd. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. ccxxxiv. [ccxxx.] 303 b/2 The duke fell sycke, wheron he dyed. 1583 T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. iii. 112 No milke to be solde, whereon butter might be made. 1624 Quarles Job Militant Medit. 17 The parts, whereon the World consists. |