whence
Use Whence in a sentence
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; 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. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To whence
00:10
Whence
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
whence (wɛns) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adv | |
| 1. | from what place, cause, or origin? |
| —pron | |
| 2. | (subordinating) from what place, cause, or origin |
| usage The expression from whence should be avoided, since whence already means from which place: the tradition whence (not from whence) such ideas flowed | |
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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Cite This Source
Example sentences
Fortunately, some stars support us when contract negotiations come around because they remember from whence they came.
The great imposed order of the wall is returning to the chaos from whence it came.
Otherwise, head back to whence you came and help fix your homeland.
Deserts are no problem, that's from whence it comes.
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