Pronunciations (3)
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/ʍɛns/
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/wɛns/
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ʍɛns
Adverb
From where; from which place or source.
Usage- Archaic
- Formal
- Literary
- not-comparable
- Antonyms
- Examples
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Whence came I?
"Pork" comes from French, whence we get most of our modern cooking terms.
More examples (10)
Go to whence you came!
That envy whence comes hate.
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.
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.
Whence, I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed?
[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.
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?
[…]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."
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.
They swore all the gold should go back Deep into the earth whence it came.
Conjunction
Used for introducing the result of a fact that has just been stated; thence
Usage- Literary
- Poetic
- Examples
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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.
Adverb
from what place, source, or cause