Etymology

hence

H4E1N1C3E1

Today it means: From here, from this place, away. Full definition →

Old English heonan ← Proto-West Germanic *hin- ← Proto-Germanic *hiz
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*-anē
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hiz
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hin-
  4. Old English · derived fromheonan“away", "hence”
  5. English todayhence

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”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*hiz all →

hehis

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.