Meanings
- archaicnot comparableNear that (person, place, thing, etc.); near it
The stream passed through the midst of the monastery and therenigh sat ten damsels like moons, high-bosomed maids, clad in dresses and ornaments that dazzled the eyes, as says of them the poet: […]
1901, The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, volume 2, page 91 more example
Rinaldo, left in his shirt and barefoot, it being very cold and snowing hard, knew not what to do and seeing the night already at hand, looked about him, trembling and chattering the while with his teeth, if there were any shelter to be seen therenigh, where he might pass the night […]
2013, Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron
Origin
- Old Englishþǣr nēah
- Middle Englishther nygh
- Englishtherenigh
From Middle English ther nygh, therny, þere-neiȝh, þerneȝ, þernegh, þare-neiȝ, from Old English þǣr nēah, equivalent to there + nigh. Cognate with West Frisian dêrnei (“thereafter”), Dutch daarna (“afterwards”), German danach (“afterwards, thereafter”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Icelandic þar hjá, hjá (honum/henni/því)
- þar hjánear it
- hjá (honum/henni/því)near it
Cite this entry
therenigh. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/therenigh
“therenigh.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/therenigh. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “therenigh,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/therenigh.
Source: therenigh on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.