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Added 1 October 2026

hence

/ˈhɛns/ adverb

In Latin: hinc, post Wiktionary

adverb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about hence at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

From here, from this place, away.
I'm going hence, because you have insulted me.
From the living or from this world.
After a long battle, my poor daughter was taken hence.
In the future from now.
A year hence it will be forgotten.

interjection

Go away! Begone!

verb

To utter "hence!" to; to send away.
To depart; to go away.

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”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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