Whereas

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʍɛːɹˈæz/
• Rhymes: -æz

Alternative forms

• whereäs rare

Full definition of whereas

Adverb

1. (obsolete) Where (that).
• 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.iii:And home she came, whereas her mother blynd
  Sate in eternall night ....

Conjunction

1. In contrast; whilst on the contrary.He came first in the race whereas his brother came last.
2. It being the fact that; inasmuch as
• United States Articles of ConfederationAnd 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.

Usage notes

Whereas is used in the second sense principally in legal documents, formal resolutions of corporate bodies, and the like.

Noun

1. A clause, as in legal documents, stating whereas.
• 1883, The Insurance Law Journal...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, 1908It had a page or so of whereases.
• 1961, Aluminum Workers' International Union, Biennial ConventionI 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, ProceedingsIf 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...