A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1986 (DOST Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1520-1554, 1621-1700+
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Quher(e)by, Wherby, rel. adv. Also: wherbie. [e.m.E. and ME whereby, wherby (Piers Plowman B), werbi (Wyclif).] = Quhareby B 2, 3.(1) c1520-c1535 Nisbet I 5.
He gaif [nan] vthir commandement but lufe quherby menn mycht knaw [etc.] 1666 Aberd. B. Rec. IV 233.
Ane minute be way of contract … quherby the said earle disponed to them sex irone cannone(2) 1553–4 Knox III 122.
Wherbie 1621 Misc. Maitl. C. I 459.
Quherby the towne was put in affray 1636 Ib. II 209.
Quherby 1657 Balfour Ann. III 48.
Quherby 1721 Life and Trials of William Sutherland (1721) 3.
I began to cleange chimney-heads wherby I got a lively-hood
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"Quherby rel. adv.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/quhereby>
