rhizoverbBeta
DictionaryhitherToward here
adverb / adjective

hither

HITH-er/ˈhɪðər/

Toward the speaker's present location.

“Come hither,” she says, waving me over to her table.

An older woman in the immediate foreground beckons a younger woman toward the spot beside her; the younger woman is visibly walking toward that foreground destination.
Etymology
hitherOld Englishto this place

Old English hider expressed direction toward this place. Hither relates to here as thither relates to there: it points toward a destination rather than simply identifying a location.

In context

Libranima259:13
Come hither, broken- hearted; here is another life without the guilt of intermediate death; here are wonders supernatural, without dying for them.
Moby Dick - Illustrated Audiobook for Focused Reading (Part 3/3)

More examples

  • What brings you hither on such a cold night?
  • The winding road leads hither from the village.
  • We wait on the hither side of the river.

Forms

hither

Similar words

here
The ordinary modern choice for location or movement toward it.
nearer
Describes relative closeness, not necessarily closeness to the speaker.