Definitions for whence
ʰwɛns, wɛnswhence

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. whenceadverb

   from what place, source, or cause

WiktionaryRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

1. whenceadverb

   From where; from which place or source.

   Whence came I?

2. whenceconjunction

   From where.

3. whenceconjunction

   From which.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Whenceadverb

   Etymology: Formed from where by the same analogy with hence from here.

   1. From what place.2. From what person.

   Whence, feeble nature! shall we summon aid,
   If by our pity and our pride betray’d? Matthew Prior.

   3. From which premises.

   Their practice was to look no farther before them than the next line; whence it will follow, that they can drive to no certain point. Dryden.

   4. From which place or person.

   Grateful to acknowledge whence his good descends. John Milton.

   5. For which cause.

   Recent urine, distilled with a fixed alkali, is turned into an alkaline nature; whence alkaline salts, taken into a human body, have the power of turning its benign salts into fiery and volatile. John Arbuthnot, on Aliments.

   6. From what source.

   I have shewn whence the understanding may get all the ideas it has. John Locke.

   7. From Whence. A vitious mode of speech.

   From whence he views, with his black-lidded eye,
   Whatso the heaven in his wide vault contains. Edmund Spenser.

   To leave his wife, to leave his babes,
   His mansion, and his titles, in a place
   From whence himself does fly. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

   8. Of Whence. Another barbarism.

   He ask’d his guide,
   What and of whence was he who press’d the hero’s side? John Dryden, Æn.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. whence

   Whence is an adverb primarily used in formal or literary language. It means "from what place or source." It can also mean "from which" or "from where," and is sometimes used to indicate origin or starting point. In modern usage, it can also suggest a cause or reason.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Whenceadverb

   from what place; hence, from what or which source, origin, antecedent, premise, or the like; how; -- used interrogatively

2. Whenceadverb

   from what or which place, source, material, cause, etc.; the place, source, etc., from which; -- used relatively

3. Etymology: [OE. whennes, whens (with adverbial s, properly a genitive ending; -- see -wards), also whenne, whanene, AS. hwanan, hwanon, hwonan, hwanone; akin to D. when. See When, and cf. Hence, Thence.]

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

1. 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How to pronounce whence?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say whence in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of whence in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of whence in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of whence in a Sentence

1. Machiavelli:

   I have often thought that the cause of men?s good or ill fortune depends on whether they make their actions fit with the times. A man having prospered by one mode of acting can never be persuaded that it may be well for him to act differently, whence it is that a man?s Fortune varies, because she changes her times and he does not his ways.

2. Omar Khayyám:

   Drink! for you know not whence you came nor why: drink! for you know not why you go, nor where.

3. Benjamin Franklin:

   Think of these things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.

4. Joseph Conrad:

   Each blade of grass has its spot on earth whence it draws its life, its strength; and so is man rooted to the land from which he draws his faith together with his life.

5. Jean Paul Friedrich Richter:

   Every man has a rainy corner of his life whence comes foul weather which follows him.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=whence
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Whence
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=whence
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whence
6. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=whence