whereas

adv

1. (not-comparable, obsolete)Where (that).

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

conj

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

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

   “One significance weakness of phrenology in the eyes of most anatomists, as Anne Harrington has shown, was that the brain comprised two structurally identical cerebral hemispheres, separated by a longitudinal fissure, whereas phrenologists held that the material sub-stratum of various mental faculties was located in only one hemisphere, and not its twin.”

2. It being the fact that; inasmuch as. (Often used to begin recitals; sometimes emboldened or emphasized as a signifier.)

   “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.”

noun

1. A clause, as in legal documents, stating whereas.

   “[…]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.”

   “It had a page or so of whereases.”

   “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[…]”

   “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[…]”