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adverb
1.
from what place?: Whence comest thou?
2.
from what source, origin, or cause?: Whence has he wisdom?
conjunction
3.
from what place, source, cause, etc.: He told whence he came.
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Whence
is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English whennes, whannes, equivalent to whanne (by syncope from Old English hwanone whence) + -s -s1
1250–1300; Middle English whennes, whannes, equivalent to whanne (by syncope from Old English hwanone whence) + -s -s1
Can be confused: 1. hence, hither, thence, thither, whence, whither, yon (see usage note at the current entry); 2. when, whence.
Usage note
Although sometimes criticized as redundant on the grounds that “from” is implied by the word whence, the idiom from whence is old in the language, well established, and standard. Among its users are the King James Bible, Shakespeare, Dryden, and Dickens: Hilary finally settled in Paris, from whence she bombarded us with letters, postcards, and sketches. From thence, a parallel construction, occurs infrequently.
Although sometimes criticized as redundant on the grounds that “from” is implied by the word whence, the idiom from whence is old in the language, well established, and standard. Among its users are the King James Bible, Shakespeare, Dryden, and Dickens: Hilary finally settled in Paris, from whence she bombarded us with letters, postcards, and sketches. From thence, a parallel construction, occurs infrequently.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To whence
Example Sentences
- Chapters will gather the seeds, and forward them to collection centres, whence they will be shipped to the gas-mask plants.
- Shed a thought, though, of whence this economic strength.
- The great imposed order of the wall is returning to the chaos from whence it came.
Collins
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
whence
c.1300, whennes, with adverbial genitive -s, from O.E. hwanone, related to hwænne (see when).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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