wherewithal
noun

- the necessary means, especially financial means

The American Heritage Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

Wherewithal is a compound word (where + with) that essentially means "with what".

Like many other etymological mysteries, the addition of “al" is unknown… perhaps echoing the meaning “all” and providing a nicer phonetic ending… "wherewithal" does sound better than "wherewith" doesn’t it?

You may also be asking why the word "where" is used in the context of "what"? There is no easy answer to this question either, other than to say "It is what it is!”.

Usage Note: "wherewithal" is almost always used together with the article "the".

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OTHER WHERES

Where is part of several other compound words including:

- whereabouts = the place where a person or thing is located (I don't know his exact whereabouts at the moment)

- wherever = to or in any or every place (We can go wherever you would like to go on holiday)

- whereas = compared with the fact that, however (I enjoy Chinese, whereas he prefers Indian food)

- whereupon = immediately after which (I finished my presentation whereupon I took questions from the audience)

- whereby = by which way or method (We need a strategy whereby we can give our products more visibility)

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SYNONYMS

accounts receivables, assets, backings, bankrolls, beans, belongings, breads, capital, cash, collateral, commitments, credit, dough, earnings, equity, fat, finances, funds, goods (and chattels), holdings, income, inheritance, investments, juice, liquidity, loot, materials, means, money, monetary provision, nest egg, net worth, reserves, resources, revenue, riches, savings, second strings, securities, stocks, substance, supplies, sustenance, trust funds, wealth, what it takes, WHEREWITHAL, worth

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

"Many young people wanting to study in the U.K. unfortunately don't have the WHEREWITHAL to finance their studies. However, undergraduates can get support for tuition fees and living costs from “student finance” (gov.uk).”

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