Hither means to this place, or toward the speaker. It's an old-fashioned way of saying “here” or “over here.” When someone in a historical story says “Come hither,” they mean “Come here.”

You'll mostly encounter hither in older books, Shakespeare's plays, or period movies. A king might command a servant to “come hither and bring me that scroll.” The word sounds formal and somewhat grand, which is why modern speakers usually just say “here” or “over here” instead.

The phrase hither and thither means moving in various directions without a clear purpose, back and forth randomly. If you're searching frantically for your lost pencil, you might rush hither and thither around the classroom. The word thither means “to that place” or “there,” making the pair mean something like “here and there” or “this way and that way.”

While hither sounds fancy to modern ears, it was perfectly ordinary language centuries ago. Understanding it helps you read classic literature and reminds you that language constantly changes. Words that sound natural today might seem just as quaint to readers 400 years from now.