What does whence mean?
Word: Whence
Part of Speech: Adverb
Meaning: Whence means from where, or from which place or source. It is an old and formal word.
How do you spell whence?
Syllables: whence
Tricky part: It starts with wh, not w, and ends in nce, not nse.
Watch out for: wence, whense, whennce
Memory tip: Put wh in front of hence and you have whence. Hence means from here; whence asks from where.
Whence in a sentence
Example 1: The river returns to the sea, whence all water comes.
Example 2: Nobody in the village knew whence the stranger had come.
Example 3: The old poem asks the wind whence it blows.
Fun Fact
English once had a full set of these words. Here, hither and hence meant at, to and from this place, and where, whither and whence asked the same three questions.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Read the four words. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word:
1. wisdom 2. whence 3. witnes 4. whether
a) a person who sees an event happen
b) out of what place
c) good sense and knowledge
d) used to show a choice, like if
Show answer
a) a person who sees an event happen. Witness ends in ss, as fitness and kindness do.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The guide pointed to the hillside spring cenewh the river flows down to the plains.
a) wrench
b) whence
c) hence
d) quench
Show answer
b) whence. Quench needs a q and a u, and wrench an r, while hence is one letter short of the six in the jumble.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Grandfather never told us whence his old brass compass came, but he took it on every long walk through the tea gardens near Darjeeling and kept it in a velvit pouch.
a) compass
b) velvit
c) whence
d) gardens
Show answer
b) velvit. Velvet has e in both syllables: vel-vet.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which text is most likely to contain the word whence?
a) a recipe card
b) a poem written long ago
c) a bus timetable
d) a cricket scorecard
Show answer
b) a poem written long ago
2. In Return whence you came, the speaker wants you to ____.
a) come along with them
b) stay exactly where you are
c) go back where you came from
d) wait until the morning
Show answer
c) go back where you came from
