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.
Origin of whence
1250–1300; Middle English
whennes, whannes, equivalent to
whanne (by syncope from Old English
hwanone whence) +
-s
-s1
usage note for whence
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.
Words nearby whence
when're,
when's,
when've,
when-issued,
whenas,
whence,
whencesoever,
whene'er,
whenever,
whensoever,
whenua
Example sentences 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 for whence
The expression
from whence should be avoided, since
whence already means from which place:
the tradition whence (not
from whence)
such ideas flowed