# whence
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English whennes, from Old English hwanon (with adverbial genitive -s), related to hwonne (whence when). Analyzable as when +‎ -s.

### Pronunciation

* enPR: hwĕns, IPA: /ʍɛns/
* (wine-whine) enPR: wĕns, IPA: /wɛns/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛns

### Adverb

whence (not comparable)
* (archaic, formal or literary) From where; from which place or source.
    Antonym: whither
    Whence came I?
    "Pork" comes from French, whence we get most of our modern cooking terms.
    Go to whence you came!
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 8:14, column 1:Ieſus anſwered, and ſaid vnto them, Though I beare record of my ſelfe, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I goe: but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I goe.
** 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “A Further Account of Glubbdubdrib. […]”, in Travels 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), page 108:I could plainly diſcover from whence 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, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume I, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, pages 81–82:Whence, I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed?
** 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Sea Chest”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part I (The Old Buccaneer), page 29:[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.
** 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”, in A 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, page 71:[…] 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”, in Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC, page 47: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.
** 1936, Robert Frost, “The Vindictives”, in A Further Range:They swore all the gold should go back Deep into the earth whence it came.

#### Usage notes

* This word is uncommon in contemporary usage; from where is now usually substituted (as in the example sentence: Where did I come from? or From where did I come?). Whence is now mainly encountered in older works and in poetic or literary writing. As a result of the obsolescence of the older directional verb system, words like whence and its antonym whither are sometimes used interchangeably as hypercorrect synonyms of where.
** 2017 November 17, “[ https://www.northern-times.co.uk/news/we-rightly-remember-those-who-fell-across-europe-and-beyond-138284 We rightly remember those who fell across Europe and beyond]”, in The Northern Times: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 has a strong literary precedent, appearing in Wyclif's Bible translation, 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 some usage commentators.

#### Derived terms

* anywhence
* elsewhence
* everywhence
* nowhence
* somewhence
* whenceforth
* whencesoever
* whencever

#### Related terms

* hence
* thence

#### Translations
### Conjunction

whence
* (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

* whither

#### Related terms

* hence
* thence

#### Translations

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