whence
[ hwens, wens ]
/ ʰwɛns, wɛns /
adverb
from what place?: Whence comest thou?
from what source, origin, or cause?: Whence has he wisdom?
conjunction
from what place, source, cause, etc.: He told whence he came.
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Nearby words
when're, when's, when've, when-issued, whenas, whence, whencesoever, whene'er, whenever, whensoever, whenua
Origin of whence
1250–1300; Middle English whennes, whannes, equivalent to whanne (by syncope from Old English hwanone whence) + -s -s1
Can be confusedhence hither thence thither whence whither yon (see usage note at the current entry)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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for whence
British Dictionary definitions for whence
whence
/ (wɛns) archaic, or formal /
adverb
from what place, cause, or origin?
pronoun
(subordinating) from what place, cause, or origin
Word Origin for whence
C13 whannes, adverbial genitive of Old English hwanon; related to Old Frisian hwana, Old High German hwanan
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 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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