whence - Definitions from Dictionary.com

6 results for: whence

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

whence

Audio Help [hwens, wens] Pronunciation Key

–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.

[Origin: 1250–1300; ME whennes, whannes, equiv. to whanne (by syncope from OE hwanone whence) + -s -s¹

]

—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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
whence

To learn more about whence visit Britannica.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

whence Audio Help (hwěns, wěns) Pronunciation Key
adv.

From where; from what place: Whence came this traveler?
From what origin or source: Whence comes this splendid feast?

conj.

Out of which place; from or out of which.
By reason of which; from which: The dog was coal black from nose to tail, whence the name Shadow.

[Middle English whennes : whenne, whence (from Old English hwanon; see k^wo- in Indo-European roots) + -es, genitive sing. suff.; see -s³.]

Usage Note: The construction from whence has been criticized as redundant since the 18th century. It is true that whence incorporates the sense of from: a remote village, whence little news reached the wider world. But from whence has been used steadily by reputable writers since the 14th century, most notably in the King James Bible: "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help" (Psalms). Such a respectable precedent makes it difficult to label the construction as incorrect. Still, it may be observed that whence (like thence) is most often used nowadays to impart an archaic or highly formal tone to a passage, and that this effect is probably better realized if the archaic syntax of the word—without from—is preserved as well.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
whence

c.1300, whennes, with adverbial genitive -s, from O.E. hwanone, related to hwænne (see when).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

whence
adverb
from what place, source, or cause

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
whence [wens] adverb

from what place or circumstance (?); from where (?)

Arabic:	من أيْن؟
Chinese (Simplified):	从何处
Chinese (Traditional):	從何處
Czech:	odkud
Danish:	hvorfra
Dutch:	vanwaar
Estonian:	kust(kohast)
Finnish:	mistä
French:	d'oû
German:	woher
Greek:	από πού;
Hungarian:	honnan?
Icelandic:	hvaðan
Indonesian:	dari mana
Italian:	da dove*

Japanese:	どこから
Korean:	어디서
Latvian:	no kurienes
Lithuanian:	iš kur
Norwegian:	hvorfra?; hvor, *hva … fra?
Polish:	skąd?
Portuguese (Brazil):	de onde
Portuguese (Portugal):	donde
Romanian:	de unde
Russian:	откуда
Slovak:	odkiaľ
Slovenian:	odkod
Spanish:	de dónde
Swedish:	varifrån, hur
Turkish:	nereden, ne yüzden

See also: when, whenever

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Whence

Thence\, adv. [OE. thenne, thanne, and (with the adverbal -s; see -wards) thennes, thannes (hence thens, now written thence), AS. [eth]anon, [eth]anan, [eth]onan; akin to OHG. dannana, dann[=a]n, dan[=a]n, and G. von dannen, E. that, there. See That.]

1. From that place. "Bid him thence go." --Chaucer.

When ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. --Mark vi. 11.

Note: It is not unusual, though pleonastic, to use from before thence. Cf. Hence, Whence.

Then I will send, and fetch thee from thence. --Gen. xxvii. 45.

2. From that time; thenceforth; thereafter.

There shall be no more thence an infant of days. --Isa. lxv. 20.

3. For that reason; therefore.

Not to sit idle with so great a gift Useless, and thence ridiculous, about him. --Milton.

4. Not there; elsewhere; absent. [Poetic] --Shak.

Browse Nearby Entries: