Etymology : Middle English hennes, henne, from Old English heonan; akin to Old High German hinnan away, Old English hEr here
Pronunciation : 'hen(t)s
Function : adverb
Date : 13th century
1. adtherefore, then; from now; from this place. hence\hence\ , adv. [oe. hennes, hens (the s is prop. a genitive ending; cf. -wards), also hen, henne, hennen, heonnen, heonene, as. heonan, heonon, heona, hine; akin to ohg. hinnān, g. hinnen, ohg. hina, g. hin; all from the root of e. he. see:
he.].
2. from this place; away. "or that we hence wend." arise, let us go hence. xiv.
3. i will send thee far hence unto the gentiles. xxii.
4. 2. from this time; in the future; as, a week hence. "half an hour hence.".
5. from this reason; as an inference or deduction. hence, perhaps, it is, that solomon calls the fear of the lord the beginning of wisdom.
6. from this source or origin. all other faces borrowed hence their light and grace. whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts? --james. iv. 1.note: hence is used, elliptically and imperatively, for go hence; depart hence; away; be gone. "hence with your little ones." -- from hence, though a pleonasm, is fully authorized by the usage of good writers. an ancient author prophesied from hence. expelled from hence into a world of woe and sorrow.hence \hence\ , v. t. to send away. [obs.] sidney.hence adv.
7. (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" [syn: therefore, thence, thus].
8. (archaic) from this place; "get thee hence!".
9. from this time; "a year hence it will be forgotten".
10. From this place; away.
11. From this time; in the future; as, a week hence.
12. From this reason; as an inference or deduction.
13. From this source or origin.
14. To send away. from this time; "a year hence it will be forgotten" from this place; "get thee hence!".
15. 1. You use hence to indicate that the statement you are about to make is a consequence of what you have just said. The trade imbalance is likely to rise again in 1990. Hence a new set of policy actions will be required soon = therefore, thus.
16. You use hence in expressions such as `several years hence' or `six months hence' to refer to a time in the future, especially a long time in the future. The gases that may be warming the planet will have their main effect many years hence.