why

Why is the sky blue?

Why did you do that?

I don’t know why he did that

Tell me why the moon changes phase.

Why do you have a map of the world?
Audio (US): (file)

2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

(interrogative) For what cause, reason, or purpose.

For what cause, reason, or purpose.
Introducing a complete question.

Why don't you ask her out for dinner?

With a negative, used rhetorically to make a suggestion.

Why spend money on something you already get for free?

Why not tell him how you feel?

Introducing a verb phrase (bare infinitive clause).

Why him? Why not someone taller?

For what cause, reason, or purpose.
Introducing a noun or other phrase.

That's the reason why I did that.

(relative) For which cause, reason, or purpose.

That is why the sky is blue.

Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.

2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

(fused relative) The cause, reason, or purpose for which.

From Middle English why, from Old English hwȳ (“why”), from Proto-Germanic *hwī (“by what, how”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey, instrumental case of *kʷis (“who”), *kʷid (“what”).
Cognate with Old Saxon hwī (“why”), hwiu (“how; why”), Middle High German wiu (“how, why”), archaic Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hvi (“why”), Norwegian Nynorsk kvi (“why”), Swedish vi (“why”), Faroese and Icelandic hví (“why”), Latin quī (“why”), Doric Greek πεῖ (peî, “where”), Ukrainian чи (čy, “if”), Polish czy, Czech či (“or”), Serbo-Croatian či (“if”). Compare Old English þȳ (“because, since, on that account, therefore, then”, literally “by that, for that”). See thy.


why

A good article will cover the who, the what, the when, the where, the why and the how.

Within months of leaving, she became the new owner of Dream Body Recovery in Miami, which has three rooms that can accommodate up to six clients. “Being a part of this journey with other ladies, knowing how it changed my life, that’s my why,” she told me.

2022 May 11, Sandra E. Garcia, “Butt Lifts Are Booming. Healing Is No Joke.”, in The New York Times Magazine:

whys (plural)
why's (plural)
whies (plural)


why

Why, that’s ridiculous!    Why, how kind of you!

VVhy Child, I tell thee if I vvas thy Mmother I ſhould not diſovvn thee; Don't you ſee I am as kind to you as if I vvas your Mother?

1724, [Daniel Defoe], The Fortunate Mistress; […] [Roxana], London: […] E. Applebee, […], published 1740, →OCLC, page 242:

(dated or literary) An exclamation used to express pleasant or unpleasant mild surprise, indignation, or impatience.

why buy a book when you can join a library

why buy a book when you can join the library

why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free


why

Why indeed? But once you start whying, there's no end to it.

1930, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, Assorted Articles, London: Martin Secker, page 11:

(intransitive, transitive) To ask (someone) the question "why?".

en-verb

why (third-person singular simple present whys or whies, present participle whying, simple past and past participle whyed or whied)

whys (present singular third-person)
whies (present singular third-person)
whying (participle present)
whyed (participle past)
whyed (past)
whied (participle past)
whied (past)


why

At two years old, also, the HEIFERS - provincially, “whies,” are generally put to the bull.

1796, William Marshall, The Rural Economy of Yorkshire:


why

ee, why, ee, ess, eyes

1881 April, J. B. Rundell, “The Irregularities of English Spelling: what they Cost and what they are Worth”, in The Spelling Reformer, and Journal of the English Spelling Reform Association, volume I, number 10, London, page 147:

eff you see kay why oh you.

1996, Sycamore Review, volume 8, page 116:

I hear you. But hear me out, all right? Because I mean what I’m about to say. Eff-you-see-kay-why-oh-you. Fuck you.

2009, Eric Barnes, Shimmer, Denver, Colo.: Unbridled Books, →ISBN, page 91:

Like many folks do when taking medicine past its expiration date, Jerry had questioned its effectiveness. The pill had answered with a resounding why ee ess, and Jerry couldn’t tell between the Custom Costume in his pocket and himself.

2016, Daniel DiPrinzio, “Come Quickly”, in The Great Stone Robbery or A Parade of Idiots, →ISBN, page 184:

Miss said, “Love your outfit, bee-tee-double-u.” It took me a second to realize she meant “btw.” “Is it vintage?” / I looked down at my school uniform. Fudgsicles. “Tee-why,” said Jahna, for “ty.” “And why-ee-ess yes!”

2016, Rachel Cohn, David Levithan, The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily, Electric Monkey, →ISBN, page 73:

Alternative form of wye; the name of the Latin-script letter Y/y.