Link Centre Dictionary

hence

UK/ˈhɛns/ US/ˈhɛns/ fairly common

adverb

1.

(used to introduce a logical conclusion) from that fact or reason or as a result

  • “therefore X must be true”
  • “the eggs were fresh and hence satisfactory”
  • “we were young and thence optimistic”
  • “it is late and thus we must go”
  • “the witness is biased and so cannot be trusted”
Synonyms
2.

from this place

  • “get thee hence!”
3.

from this time

  • “a year hence it will be forgotten”

Origin

A later Middle English spelling, retaining the voiceless -s, of hennes (henne + adverbial genitive ending -s), from Old English heonan (“away", "hence”), from a Proto-West Germanic *hin-, from Proto-Germanic *hiz, and Proto-Germanic *-anē. Cognate with Old Saxon hinan, Old High German hinnan (German hinnen), Dutch heen, Swedish hän. Related to Old English her (“here”).

Phrases

  • hence why

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.