whereas

See also: whereäs

English

Alternative forms

• whereäs (rare)

Etymology

From where +‎ as (“that”); first attested in the meaning of "where" First attested in the 14^th century. Compare thereas.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /weəɹˈæz/, /wɛː(ɹ)ˈaz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /(h)wɛɹˈæz/
• Hyphenation: where‧as

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æz

Adverb

whereas (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Where (that).
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.iii:

     And home she came, whereas her mother blynd / Sate in eternall night […]

Derived terms

• otherwhereas

Conjunction

whereas

1. In contrast; whilst on the contrary; although.

   He came first in the race, whereas his brother came last.

2. (chiefly law) It being the fact that; inasmuch as. (Often used to begin recitals; sometimes emboldened or emphasized as a signifier.)
   • 1778, United States Articles of Confederation:

     And Whereas it hath pleased the Great Governor of the World to incline the hearts of the legislatures we respectively represent in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union.

Translations

but in contrast; whilst on the contrary…

• Arabic: عِنْدَمَا (ʕindamā)
• Azerbaijani: halbuki
• Bulgarian: от друга страна (ot druga strana)
• Chinese:

  Literary Chinese: 而 (ér)

  Mandarin: 然而 (rán'ér)

• Czech: zatímco (cs), kdežto (cs), přičemž (cs)
• Danish: hvorimod
• Dutch: hoewel (nl), terwijl (nl), ofschoon (nl)
• Esperanto: dum (eo), kontraŭe
• Finnish: kun taas, kun sitä vastoin
• French: tandis que (fr), alors que (fr)
• German: wohingegen (de), wogegen (de), während (de)
• Greek: τουναντίον (el) (tounantíon), ενώ (el) (enó), απεναντίας (el) (apenantías)
• Hungarian: míg (hu), pedig (hu), viszont (hu)
• Italian: laddove (it), mentre (it)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Malay: manakala, padahal
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: mens (no)

  Nynorsk: mens, medan

• Polish: natomiast (pl), zaś (pl), a (pl)
• Portuguese: enquanto (pt), ao passo que
• Romanian: pe când
• Russian: тогда́ как (ru) (togdá kak), в то вре́мя как (ru) (v to vrémja kak)
• Serbo-Croatian: dok (sh), za razliku od
• Slovene: medtem ko
• Spanish: mientras que (locution)
• Swedish: samtidigt som, medan (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: тоді як (todi jak), в той час як (v toj čas jak)

it being the case that…

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鑒於／鉴于 (zh) (jiànyú)

• Czech: poněvadž (cs), ježto (cs), vzhledem k tomu, že
• Danish: eftersom
• Dutch: aangezien (nl), terwijl (nl), waarbij (nl), vermits (nl)
• Finnish: koska (fi)
• French: alors que (fr), compte tenu de (fr), vu que (fr), vu (fr), eu égard à (fr), en raison de (fr), étant donné (fr)
• German: wobei (de)
• Greek: δεδομένου ότι (dedoménou óti), λαμβανομένου υπόψη ότι (lamvanoménou ypópsi óti)
• Hungarian: minthogy (hu), mivel (hu), tekintettel (hu)
• Navajo: kótʼéego hazʼaah
• Portuguese: sendo que, considerando que, dado que
• Spanish: siendo que, por cuanto, visto que, ya que (es), dado que (es), considerando (es)
• Swedish: emedan (sv) (formal, dated), alldenstund (sv) (dated), enär (sv) (dated)
• Ukrainian: беручи до уваги, що (beručy do uvahy, ščo)

See also

Here-, there-, and where- words

• (about): hereabout, thereabout, whereabout
• (abouts): hereabouts, thereabouts, whereabouts
• (after): hereafter, thereafter, whereafter
• (again): thereagain
• (against): hereagainst, thereagainst, whereagainst
• (among): hereamong, thereamong, whereamong
• (amongst): thereamongst, whereamongst
• (around): therearound, wherearound
• (as): thereas, whereas
• (at): hereat, thereat, whereat
• (before): herebefore, therebefore
• (beside): therebeside
• (between): therebetween, wherebetween
• (by): hereby, thereby, whereby
• (for): herefor, therefor, wherefor
• (fore): herefore, therefore, wherefore
• (from): herefrom, therefrom, wherefrom
• (hence): herehence, therehence
• (in): herein, therein, wherein
• (in after): hereinafter, thereinafter, whereinafter
• (in before): hereinbefore, thereinbefore, whereinbefore
• (into): hereinto, thereinto, whereinto
• (of): hereof, thereof, whereof
• (on): hereon, thereon, whereon
• (out): hereout, thereout, whereout
• (to): hereto, thereto, whereto
• (tofore): heretofore, theretofore, wheretofore
• (under): hereunder, thereunder, whereunder
• (unto): hereunto, thereunto, whereunto
• (upon): hereupon, thereupon, whereupon
• (with): herewith, therewith, wherewith
• (withal): herewithal, therewithal, wherewithal

 

Noun

whereas (plural whereases)

1. A clause, as in legal documents, stating whereas.
   • 1883, The Insurance Law Journal, Potter and Company:

     […] the promise is stated after a whereas, though the promise is the very gist of the action, yet, such a count so framed, will be held good on demurrer.

   • 1908, United States Congress, Hearings beginning March 9, 1908 – April 30, 1908:

     It had a page or so of whereases.

   • 1961, Aluminum Workers' International Union, Biennial Convention:

     I feel it is most unfortunate that some of the preambles, prefaces, whereases or whatever you want to call it, are put before motions or before resolutions […]

   • 1973, Canadian Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, Proceedings:

     If it is the desire of any Lodge on the floor that the whereases that were listed in their original Resolution be quoted by the Chairman or by the Secretary […]

Translations

clause

• Dutch: terwijl (nl), vermits (nl)
• Portuguese: cláusula (pt)
• Spanish: considerando (es) m

Anagrams

• Erewash