whence

American  

[hwens, wens] / ʰwɛns, wɛns /

adverb

1. from what place?.

   Whence comest thou?

2. from what source, origin, or cause?.

   Whence has he wisdom?

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conjunction

1. from what place, source, cause, etc..

   He told whence he came.

whence British  

/ wɛns /

adverb

1. from what place, cause, or origin?

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pronoun

1. (subordinating) from what place, cause, or origin

Usage

Although sometimes criticized as redundant on the grounds that “from” is implied by the word whence, the idiom from whence is old in the language, well established, and standard. Among its users are the King James Bible, Shakespeare, Dryden, and Dickens: Hilary finally settled in Paris, from whence she bombarded us with letters, postcards, and sketches. From thence, a parallel construction, occurs infrequently.

The expression from whence should be avoided, since whence already means from which place: the tradition whence (not from whence ) such ideas flowed

Etymology

Origin of whence

1250–1300; Middle English whennes, whannes, equivalent to whanne (by syncope from Old English hwanone whence) + -s -s ¹

Explanation

Use the adverb whence as an old-fashioned way to say "from which" or "from where." If you found a hundred dollar bill on the ground, you might ask, "Whence did this money come?" Not many people use the word whence these days — you're most likely to hear it in a Shakespeare play or if a speaker is trying to sound especially formal. Many people say, "from whence," as in "Throw that fish back in the sea from whence it came," although strictly speaking the "from" is unnecessary. Instead, a dinner party guest could ask, "Whence came this delicious fish?"

Example Sentences

The radio and TV stations whence come the music and the news could get even more anonymized: Many cars are coming off the assembly line missing that democratizing medium of the 20th century, AM radio.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 12, 2024

Grizzly populations only just recovered whence they came, now leave them alone.

From Seattle Times • May 17, 2024

You may be wondering just whence that staggering valuation arises, then.

From Slate • Mar. 28, 2024

Venice “sinks, like a seaweed, into whence she rose,” the Romantic poet Lord Byron wrote.

From New York Times • Apr. 1, 2023

Her only outings were her weekly trips to Sunday mass at the Church of Saint Sebastian, which was two blocks from her house, whence she was conveyed in a wheelchair by Ferula and the maid.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende