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Webster 1913 Edition


Hence

Hence

(hĕns)
,
adv.
[OE.
hennes
,
hens
(the s is prop. a genitive ending; cf.
-wards
), also
hen
,
henne
,
hennen
,
heonnen
,
heonene
, AS.
heonan
,
heonon
,
heona
,
hine
; akin to OHG.
hinnān
, G.
hinnen
, OHG.
hina
, G.
hin
; all from the root of E.
he
. See
He
.]
1.
From this place; away.
“Or that we hence wend.”
Chaucer.
Arise, let us go
hence
.
John xiv. 31.
I will send thee far
hence
unto the Gentiles.
Acts xxii. 21.
2.
From this time; in the future;
as, a week
hence
.
“Half an hour hence.”
Shak.
3.
From this reason; therefore; – as an inference or deduction.
Hence
, perhaps, it is, that Solomon calls the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom.
Tillotson.
4.
From this source or origin.
All other faces borrowed
hence

Their light and grace.
Suckling.
Whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not
hence
, even of your lusts?
James. iv. 1.
Hence is used, elliptically and imperatively, for go hence; depart hence; away; be gone. “Hence with your little ones.”
Shak.
From hence, though a pleonasm, is fully authorized by the usage of good writers.
An ancient author prophesied
from hence
.
Dryden.
Expelled
from hence
into a world
Of woe and sorrow.
Milton.

Hence

,
Verb.
T.
To send away.
[Obs.]
Sir P. Sidney.

Webster 1828 Edition


Hence

HENCE

,
adv.
hens.
1.
From this place.
Arise, let us go hence. John 14.
I will send thee far hence to the Gentiles. Acts.22.
2.
From this time; in the future; as a week hence; a year hence.
3.
From this cause or reason,noting a consequence, inference or deduction from something just before stated.
Hence perhaps it is, that Solomon calls the fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom.
It sometimes denotes an inference or consequence, resulting from something that follows.
Whence come wars and fightings among you?
Come they not hence, even from your lusts--James 4.
4.
From this source or original.
All other faces borrowed hence--
Hence signifies from this, and from before hence is not strictly correct. But from hence is so well established by custom, that it may not be practicable to correct the use of the phrase.
Hence is used elliptically and imperatively, for go hence; depart hence; away; be gone.
Hence, with your little ones.
Hence, as a verb, to send off, as used by Sidney, is improper.

Definition 2024


Hence

Hence

See also: hence

English

Proper noun

Hence

  1. A male given name

hence

hence

See also: Hence

English

Adverb

hence (not comparable)

  1. (archaic) from here, from this place, away
    I'm going hence, because you have insulted me.
    Get thee hence, Satan!
  2. (archaic, figuratively) from the living or from this world
    After a long battle, my poor daughter was taken hence.
  3. (archaic, of a length of time) in the future from now
    A year hence it will be forgotten.
  4. (conjunctive) as a result; therefore, for this reason
    I shall go to Japan and hence will not be here in time for the party.
    The purse is handmade and hence very expensive.
    • 1910, Sun Tzu, Lionel Giles (translator), The Art of War, Section VI: Weak Points and Strong, 8,
      Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.
    • 1910, [1513], Niccolò Machiavelli, Ninian Hill Thomson (translator), The Prince, Chapter VI,
      Hence it comes that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed Prophets have been destroyed.
    • 1731 May 27, Benjamin Franklin, Apology for Printers, published in The Pennsylvania Gazette,
      That hence arises the peculiar Unhappiness of that Business, which other Callings are no way liable to;

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

hence (third-person singular simple present hences, present participle hencing, simple past and past participle henced)

  1. (obsolete) To send away.
    "...Hence! and bestow your dead
    Where no wrong against him cries!"