Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Whence
Whence
,adv.
1.
From what place; hence, from what or which source, origin, antecedent, premise, or the like; how; – used interrogatively.
Whence
hath this man this wisdom? Matt. xiii. 54.
Whence
and what art thou? Milton.
2.
From what or which place, source, material, cause, etc.; the place, source, etc., from which; – used relatively.
Grateful to acknowledge
Descends.
whence
his goodDescends.
Milton.
☞ All the words of this class, whence, where, whither, whereabouts, etc., are occasionally used as pronouns by a harsh construction.
O, how unlike the place from
whence
they fell? Milton.
☞ From whence, though a pleonasm, is fully authorized by the use of good writers.
From whence
come wars and fightings among you? James iv. 1.
Webster 1828 Edition
Whence
WHENCE
,adv.
1.
From what place.Whence and what art thou?
2.
From what source. Whence shall we derive hope? Whence comes this honor?Whence hath this man this wisdom? Matthew 13.
3.
From which premises, principles or facts. These facts or principles are admitted, whence it follows, that judgment must be entered for the plaintiff.4.
How; by what way or means. Mark 12.5.
In general, from which person, cause, place, principle or circumstance.From whence may be considered as tautological, from being implied in whence; but the use is well authorized, and in some cases the use of it seems to give force or beauty to the phrase. We ascended the mountain, from whence we took a view of the beautiful plains below.
Of whence is not now used.
Definition 2024
whence
whence
English
Adverb
whence (not comparable)
- (archaic, formal or literary) From where; from which place or source.
- Whence came I?
- "Pork" comes from French, whence we get most of our modern cooking terms.
- 1611, King James BibleWikisource, John 8:14:
- 1818, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Chapter 4:
- Whence, I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed?
- 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Sea-chest”, in Treasure IslandWikisource:
- [W]hat greatly encouraged me, it was in an opposite direction from that whence the blind man had made his appearance and whither he had presumably returned.
- 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, Chapter 3:
- At first I could not tell what this new sound was, nor whence it came, and now it seemed a little noise close by, and now a great noise in the distance. And then it grew nearer and more defined, and in a moment I knew it was the sound of voices talking.
Usage notes
- This word is uncommon in modern usage; from where is now usually substituted (as in the example sentence: Where did I come from? or From where did I come?). It is now chiefly encountered in older works, or in poetic or literary writing.
- From whence has a strong literary precedent, appearing in Shakespeare and the King James Bible as well as in the writings of numerous Victorian-era writers. In recent times, however, it has been criticized as redundant by usage commentators.
Derived terms
Terms derived from whence
Related terms
Translations
from where; from which place or source
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Conjunction
whence
- (literary, poetic) Used for introducing the result of a fact that has just been stated.
- The work is slow and dangerous, whence the high costs.
- I scored more than you in the exam, whence we can conclude that I am better at the subject than you are.
Translations
conjunction