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whence

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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WOTD – 9 November 2012

Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishwhennes, fromOld Englishhwanon (with adverbial genitive-s), related tohwonne (whencewhen). Analyzable aswhen +‎-s.

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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whence (notcomparable)

  1. (archaic, formal or literary) Fromwhere; from whichplace orsource.
    Antonym:whither
    Whence came I?
    "Pork" comes from French,whence we get most of our modern cooking terms.
    Go towhence you came!
    • 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,John8:14, column 1:
      Ieſus anſwered, and ſaid vnto them, Though I beare record of my ſelfe, yet my record is true: for I knowwhence I came, andwhither I goe: but ye cannot tellwhence I come, andwhither I goe.
    • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “A Further Account ofGlubbdubdrib. […]”, inTravels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […],→OCLC, part III (A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdribb, Luggnagg, and Japan),page108:
      I could plainly diſcover fromwhence one Family derives a long Chin; why a ſecond hath abounded with Knaves for two Generations, and Fools for two more; why a third happened to be crack-brained, and a fourth to be Sharpers.
    • 1816 June –1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter III, inFrankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume I, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818,→OCLC,pages81–82:
      Whence, I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed?
    • 1881–1882,Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Sea Chest”, inTreasure Island, London; Paris:Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883,→OCLC, part I (The Old Buccaneer),page29:
      [W]hat greatly encouraged me, it was in an opposite direction from thatwhence the blind man had made his appearance, andwhither he had presumably returned.
    • 1883,A. E. Housman,Fragment of a Greek Tragedy:
      O suitably-attired-in-leather-boots
      Head of a traveller, wherefore seeking whom
      Whence by what way how purposed art thou come
      To this well-nightingaled vicinity?
    • 1885,Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, “The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman”, inA Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume VI,[London]: […] Burton Club […],→OCLC,page71:
      […]But when I had bestridden the plank, quoth I to myself, "Thou deservest all that betideth thee. All this is decreed to me of Allah (whose name be exalted!), to turn me from my greed of gain,whence ariseth all that I endure, for I have wealth galore."
    • [1898],J[ohn] Meade Falkner, “A Discovery”, inMoonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.:Jonathan Cape, published1934,→OCLC,page47:
      At first I could not tell what this new sound was, norwhence 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.
    • 1936,Robert Frost, “The Vindictives”, inA Further Range:
      They swore all the gold should go back
      Deep into the earthwhence it came.

Usage notes

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  • This word is archaic in contemporary usage;from where is now usually substituted (as in the example sentence:Where did I come from? orFrom where did I come?).Whence is now mainly encountered in older works and in poetic, formal or literary writing. As a result of the obsolescence of the older directional verb system, words likewhence and its antonymwhither are sometimes used interchangeably ashypercorrect synonyms ofwhere, as seen in the example below.
2017 November 17, “We rightly remember those who fell across Europe and beyond”, inThe Northern Times‎[1]:
I remember my father telling me of the 11th of November in London,whence he had gone from Tain to work, in the 1930s.
  • From whence(literally,“from from-where”), despite being aredundant construction, has a strong literary precedent, mainly forpoetic effect, appearing in Wyclif's Bible translation (one of the earliest ones), Shakespeare's works, and the King James Bible, as well as in the writings of numerous Victorian-era writers. In recent times, however, itspleonastic character has been criticized by some usage commentators.
This section or entry lacks references or sources. Please help verify this information by adding appropriatecitations. You can also discuss it at theTea Room.
Particularly: “sources for the criticisms of those usage commentators.”

Derived terms

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Related terms

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Translations

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from where; from which place or source

Conjunction

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whence

  1. (literary, poetic)Used for introducing the result of a fact that has just been stated; thence
    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.

Antonyms

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Related terms

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Translations

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conjunction
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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