The word for today is…
wherefore (adverb, noun) –
adverb
1 : for what reason or purpose : why
2 : therefore
noun
: an answer or statement giving an explanation : reason – wants to know the whys and wherefores
Source : Merriam -Webster
Etymology : A bit of a rarity this morning, an adverb.
When Shakespeare’s Juliet asks, “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” she is not inquiring into her beloved’s whereabouts. Rather she is asking why it is that Romeo must be Romeo, a member of the Montague family and, therefore, an enemy of Juliet’s own family, the Capulets. Yet, wherefore does wherefore mean “why”? Starting in the early 13th century, a number of new words were formed by combining where with a preposition. In such words, where had the meaning of “what” or “which,” giving the English language such adverbs as wherein (“in what”), whereon (“on what”), and wherefore (“for what”). English speakers have largely dropped the adverb wherefore in favor of why, but the noun wherefore, meaning “an answer or statement giving an explanation,” continues to be used, particularly in the phrase “the whys and wherefores.”
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