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whence

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whence

  [hwens, wens]
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; ME whennes, whannes, equiv. to whanne (by syncope from OE hwanone whence) + -s -s 1

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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To whence
whence   (hwěns, wěns)   
adv.  

  1. From where; from what place: Whence came this traveler?

  2. From what origin or source: Whence comes this splendid feast?

conj.  

  1. Out of which place; from or out of which.

  2. 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 kwo- 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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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