Literary notes about Wherewith (AI summary)
Across many periods and genres, "wherewith" has been employed to denote the means or instrumentality by which something is done—its usage ranges from the literal to the metaphorical. In works of theology and philosophy, such as those by St. Augustine ([1], [2], [3]), the term is invoked to indicate the quality or tool whereby one acts, whether in matters of love or spiritual devotion. In more concrete contexts, authors use it to denote a material or physical means—examples include cooking fuel ([4]), building materials ([5], [6]), or even the tools of warfare ([7]). Meanwhile, writers like Michel de Montaigne ([8], [9]) and François Rabelais ([10], [11], [12]) highlight its flexible poetic charm, linking it to both the tangible and the abstract in everyday challenges and grand narratives alike. Thus, "wherewith" serves as a linguistic bridge across different facets of human endeavor, emphasizing the instruments—be they emotional, moral, or material—that empower action.
- Is it not then obvious that we love in ourselves the very love wherewith we love whatever good we love?
— from The City of God, Volume I by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine - [380] So in another prophet: "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God?
— from The City of God, Volume I by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine - Who repay Him the price wherewith
— from The Confessions of St. Augustine by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine - For fuel wherewith to cook his rice, he cut down a tree that happened to be covered with dried berries.
— from All About Coffee by William H. Ukers - But the operative mason required materials wherewith to construct his temple.
— from The symbolism of Freemasonry : by Albert Gallatin Mackey - There is need for a church to be built, but no money wherewith to build it.
— from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol - How Balin fought with King Pellam, and how his sword brake, and how he gat a spear wherewith he smote the dolorous stroke.
— from Le Morte d'Arthur: Volume 1 by Sir Thomas Malory - [“Henceforward I will neither lose, nor expect to get: I have more wherewith to defray my journey, than I have way to go.”
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne - If we do not betimes begin to see to ourselves, when shall we have provided for so many wounds and evils wherewith we abound?
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne - Argus had a hundred eyes for his sight, a butler should have (like Briareus) a hundred hands wherewith to fill us wine indefatigably.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais - And wherewith didst thou live?
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais - The birds did fall down from the air for want of moisture and dew wherewith to refresh them.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais