WHENCE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Whence

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/wɛns/ /hwɛns/ Listen

adverb

Whence adv.

From what place; hence, from what or which source, origin, antecedent, premise, or the like; how; used interrogatively. "Whence hath this man this wisdom?" "Whence and what art thou?"

From what or which place, source, material, cause, etc.; the place, source, etc., from which; used relatively. "Grateful to acknowledge whence his good Descends." Note: 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?" Note: From whence, though a pleonasm, is fully authorized by the use of good writers. "From whence come wars and fightings among you?" Of whence, also a pleonasm, has become obsolete.

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Etymology of 'Whence'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Whence" Quotes from Famous Books

... gold at the bottom, but attended with a great proportion of a sharp corrosive, sometimes amounting to a half of the whole, whence half the character expresses acrimony; which, accordingly, both alchemists and physicians observe of iron, and hence that common opinion of the adepts that the aurum vivum, or gold of the philosophers, is contained in iron, and that ...

— On the Antiquity of the Chemical Art • James Mactear

... of corn an infant's hand May plant upon an inch of land, Whence twenty stalks may spring and yield, Enough ...

— Twilight And Dawn • Caroline Pridham

... pitying the weary sufferer bearing his heavy burden, flew down, and plucked away one of the thorns that pierced his brow. As it did so, the blood spurted out after the thorn, and splashed the breast of the bird. Ever since that day the bird has had a splash of red on its bosom, whence it is called robin-redbreast. Certainly the love of the Bethany home drew from the breast of Jesus many a thorn, and blessed his heart with many ...

— Personal Friendships of Jesus • J. R. Miller

... from Cythera, touched at another island called Aegialia, whence as he was about to depart for Cyrene, one of his friends, Therycion by name, a man of a noble spirit in all enterprises, and bold and lofty in his talk, came privately to him, and said thus: "Sir, death in battle, which is the most glorious, we have let go; though all heard us say ...

— Plutarch's Lives • A.H. Clough

... condition, and may think of a dozen more. It will be better to parole you with the understanding that you are to put in an appearance at the hour for whist;" and with similar light talk they went down the walk under the apple-boughs, whence in Graham's fancy the fair girl had had her origin. As they passed under the shadow he saw the dusky outline of a rustic seat leaning against the bole of the tree, and he wondered if he should ever induce his present guide through the darkened paths to come ...

— His Sombre Rivals • E. P. Roe

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