nowhence

N1O1W4H4E1N1C3E1

adverb

From no place: from nowhere.

OriginMiddle English *nowhennes ← Old English nāhwanon →
Scrabble 16
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Meanings

adverbnowhence (not comparable)
  1. not comparableFrom no place: from nowhere.

    They come nowhence, and they go nowhither. But now I see them and all things as ever moving symbols of the motions of man's spirit and destiny.

    1868, George MacDonald, The Seaboard Parish, serialized in The Sunday Magazine, June 1, page 538

Origin

  1. Old Englishnāhwider
  2. Middle Englishnowhider
  3. Old Englishnāhwanon
  4. Middle English*nowhennes
  5. Englishnowhence

Unattested as Middle English *nowhennes, but ultimately from Old English nāhwanon. It may be reconstructed by analogy to nowhither from Middle English nowhider, from Old English nāhwider. Analyzable as no + whence.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

nowhence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nowhence

MLA

“nowhence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nowhence. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nowhence,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nowhence.

Source: nowhence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.