Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Whence |
WhenceAdverb1. From what place or origin or source; "whence did he come?"; "whence comes this splendid feast?"; "sketches the lawless society whence the ballads sprang"-DeLancey Ferguson. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "whence" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
Etymology: Whence \Whence\, adverb. [from Old English expression whennes, whens (with adverbial, properly genitive ending; -- see -wards), also whenne, whanene, Anglo-Saxon hwanan, hwanon, hwonan, hwanone; akin to Dutch when. See When, and compare to Hence, Thence.]. (Websters 1913) |
Synonym: WhenceSynonym: wherefrom (adv). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Attribution | Adverb: hence, thence, therefore, for, since, on account of, because, owing to; on that account; from this cause, from that cause; thanks to, forasmuch as; whence, propter hoc. |
Departure | Adverb: whence, hence, thence; with a foot in the stirrup; on the wing, on the move. |
Reasoning, | Adverb: for, because, hence, whence, seeing that, since, sith, then thence so; for that reason, for this reason, for which reason; for as, inasmuch as; whereas, ex concesso, considering, in consideration of; therefore, wherefore; consequently, ergo, thus, accordingly; a fortiori. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came. (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring; writing credit: Frances Walsh) | |
Movie/TV Titles | From Whence Cometh My Help (1949) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Behold ye Worldings whence true pleasure springs; / [John Collier]. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | Never before have the fairest energies and aspirations of men flung so recklessly and incessantly into an abyss whence comes no sound or answer. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Quarry chambers of Masara whence came the blocks for the Great Pyramid, Egypt. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Edmund Burke | If the people are happy, united, wealthy, and powerful, we presume the rest. We conclude that to be good from whence good is derived. |
Francis Bacon | Boldness is ever blind, for it sees not dangers and inconveniences whence it is bad in council though good in execution. |
Gaius Valerius Catullus | Now he goes along the dark road, thither whence they say no one returns. |
Omar Khayyam | Drink! for you know not whence you came nor why: drink! for you know not why you go, nor where. |
Ralph Waldo Emerson | Is the parent better than the child into whom he has cast his ripened being? Whence, then, this worship of the past? |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
John Locke | 1690 | Whence it is plain, that at least a great part of the land lay in common; that the inhabitants valued it not, nor claimed property in any more than they made use of. (Second Treatise of Government) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Whence does it spring? |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | An afterglow deepened within his spirit, whence the white flame had passed, deepening to a rose and ardent light. |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift, Jonathan | We were in a chamber from whence there was a fair prospect into the park. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | DULLARD, n. A member of the reigning dynasty in letters and life. The Dullards came in with Adam, and being both numerous and sturdy have overrun the habitable world. The secret of their power is their insensibility to blows; tickle them with a bludgeon and they laugh with a platitude. The Dullards came originally from Boeotia, whence they were driven by stress of starvation, their dullness having blighted the crops. For some centuries they infested Philistia, and many of them are called Philistines to this day. In the turbulent times of the Crusades they withdrew thence and gradually overspread all Europe, occupying most of the high places in politics, art, literature, science and theology. Since a detachment of Dullards came over with the Pilgrims in the Mayflower and made a favorable report of the country, their increase by birth, immigration, and conversion has been rapid and steady. According to the most trustworthy statistics the number of adult Dullards in the United States is but little short of thirty millions, including the statisticians. The intellectual centre of the race is somewhere about Peoria, Illinois, but the New England Dullard is the most shockingly moral. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
James Monroe | 1817-1825 | Deeply impressed with the blessings which we enjoy, and of which we have such manifold proofs, my mind is irresistibly drawn to that Almighty Being, the great source from whence they proceed and to whom our most grateful acknowledgments are due. |
Andrew Jackson | 1829-1837 | The great desideratum in modern times is an efficient check upon the power of banks, preventing that excessive issue of paper whence arise those fluctuations in the standard of value which render uncertain the rewards of labor. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Whence" is generally used as an adverb (wh-) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Whence" is used about 245 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adverb (wh-) | 100% | 245 | 19,065 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "whence": whence comes it that? ♦ whence the new meaning of the word. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
whence | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "whence"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Afrikaans | waarvandaan (from, from where). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | që nga (ever after, out, since). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | من حيث, من أين (wherever). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | как (according as, how, whereby), откъдето (from where, where ... from), отдето, поради което (whereat, wherefore, why), по какъв начин (whereby). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 何處 (where), 何以 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | z èehož, tudíž (accordingly, consequently, therefore, thus), odtud (from here, off, thence), odkud (wherefrom). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | hvor ... fra (from where). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | waarvandaan (from where), waar ... vandaan (from where), van waar (from where). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | de kie (from where). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Faeroese | hvaðan (from where). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | چه جا, که ازانجا, ازچه رو, ازکجا (Where). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | d'où (from where, from which). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | woher (from where, from which, how, where from, wherefrom, why). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | πόθεν, από πού (where from, wherefrom), οπόθεν. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | מאין (wherefrom), מאיז" מקום, מ ין (from where, number, quorum, score, vote), אי מז" (from where, wherefrom). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | honnan (from where), honnét, ahonnét. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Icelandic | hvaðan (from where). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | dari mana. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | da dove, da cui. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Norwegian | hvor ... fra (from where). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | encewhay skąd. (various references) por que motivo, por isso (hence, therefore, thereupon, wherefore), donde (from where), de onde (from where), daí (thence, therefrom, thereof, thereout). (various references) de unde (from where, wherefrom). (various references) откуда. (various references) cia (how much, whence : cia meud, which? what? : cia as, who). (various references) odakle (from where, where). (various references) y por consiguiente, por lo cual (whereby). (various references) varifrån (from where, where ... from, wherefrom), varav (whereof). (various references) nereli, nereden (from where, how, where, wherefrom), neden (case, causatively, cause, forwhy, ground, inducement, motive, occasion, point, reason, rise, room, seeds, what for, wherefore, wherefrom, why), -den (from, of, off, out of, than), -dan (from, off, than), bu nedenle (accordingly, consequently, for this reason, herewith, that's why, therefore, thereof, thus). (various references) яким чином (however, where, whereby), як (as, how, like, qua, than, where, whereby, yak), звідки (where, where from, whereof), джерело (authorship, beginning, channel, cradle, derivation, fount, fountain-head, headspring, lymph, origin, parent, paternity, principle, progenitor, quarry, radix, source, spring, well, wellspring). (various references) do đâu. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | unde. (various references) |
| Avestan | 200-600 | ýadhôit. (various references) |
| Old English | 450-1100 | hwanon. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Luke Chapter 20, Verse 7 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Kai apekriqhsan mh eidenai poqen |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Et responderunt se nescire unde esset |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | þa andswaredon hig þæt hig nyston hwanun he wæs; |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And thei answeriden, that thei knewen not, of whennus it was. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And they answered that they coulde not tell whence it was. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | And they made answer that they had no idea where it came from. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Luke Chapter 20, Verse 7 |
| Cebuano | Ug sila mitubag nga wala kono sila masayud kon diin kadto gikan. |
| Chinese | 於 是 回 " 說 、 不 知 " 是 從 那 裡 來 的 。 |
| Croatian | I odgovore da ne znaju odakle. |
| Danish | Og de svarede, at de vidste ikke hvorfra. |
| Dutch | En zij antwoordden, dat zij niet wisten, vanwaar die was. |
| Finnish | Ja he vastasivat, etteivät tienneet, mistä se oli. |
| German | Und sie antworteten, sie wüßten's nicht, wo sie her wäre. |
| Haitian Creole | Lè sa a yo reponn li: Nou pa konn ki moun ki te voye l' batize. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Jadi mereka menjawab, "Kami tidak tahu." |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Maka jawab mereka itu, "Kami tiada ketahui dari mana asalnya." |
| Italian | Risposero quindi di non saperlo. |
| Korean | 대 답 하 되 ` 어 "" 로 서 인 지 알 지 못 하 노 라' 하 니 |
| Maori | Na ka whakahokia e ratou, E kore e kitea no hea ranei. |
| Norwegian | Og de svarte at de ikke visste hvor den var fra. |
| Portuguese | Responderam, pois, que não sabiam donde era. |
| Rumanian | Atunci au rqspuns cq nu wtiu de unde venea botezul lui Ioan. |
| Shuar | Nuinkia Jesusan ainiak "Iisha nékatsji, Juan imiakratinniasha Yátsuk akupkamia" tiarmiayi. |
| Swahili | Basi, wakamwambia, "Hatujui mamlaka hayo yalitoka wapi." |
| Swedish | De svarade alltså att de icke visste varifrån den var. |
| Uma | Toe pai' ratompoi': "Uma ki'incai kangkaiapa kuasa-na." |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "whence": whencesoever. (additional references) | |
| |
"Whence" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: dhenki, wence, Whec, whenk, whenne, whense, whince, whinced, wience. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "whence" (pronounced we"ns or hwe"ns) |
| 3 | -e" n s | commence, commonsense, condense, defence, defense, dense, dispense, expense, fence, hence, immense, incense, intense, nondefense, offense, pence, pretense, sense, Spence, suspense, tense, thence. |
| 3 | -e" n s | commence, commonsense, condense, defence, defense, dense, dispense, expense, fence, hence, immense, incense, intense, nondefense, offense, pence, pretense, sense, Spence, suspense, tense, thence. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-e-e-h-n-w" | |
-1 letter: hence, wench, wheen. | |
-2 letters: chew, eche, hewn, ween, whee, when. | |
-3 letters: cee, ewe, hen, hew, nee, new, wee, wen. | |
-4 letters: eh, en, he, ne, we. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-e-e-h-n-w" | |
+1 letter: wenched, wencher, wenches. | |
+2 letters: unchewed, wenchers, wrenched, wrenches. | |
+3 letters: eschewing, rechewing. | |
+4 letters: chainwheel, unchewable. | |
+5 letters: benchwarmer, bewitchment, chainwheels, kitchenware, workbenches. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Historic | 9. Quotations: Fiction 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Quotations: Speeches 12. Usage Frequency | 13. Expressions 14. Expressions: Internet 15. Translations: Modern 16. Translations: Ancient | 17. Bible Trace 18. Derivations 19. Rhymes 20. Anagrams | 21. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
