hence

Formshences, hencing, henced

1. 1
   as a resultadverb

   Because of what has just been stated; consequently or accordingly.

   Our flight was canceled because of the storm, hence the extra night we spent at the airport hotel.

   Demand had risen sharply; hence prices climbed across the region.

   UsageCan stand before a noun alone (hence the extra night) or link words: handmade and hence expensive.

   Similarconsequently

   Note

   The logical descendant of the spatial sense: what follows from here becomes what follows from this. At the head of a sentence it announces a conclusion, as in Machiavelli's The Prince, in Ninian Hill Thomson's translation: "Hence it comes that all armed Prophets have been victorious." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • The consequential sense developed from the spatial sense. langsci-press.org
   • The Prince is by Machiavelli, and the cited translation is by Ninian Hill Thomson. en.wiktionary.org
   • The quoted words open a sentence in Chapter VI of Thomson's translation; the excerpt ends before its second clause. en.wikisource.org
2. 2
   from nowadverb

   At a stated time in the future, measured from now.

   The election is scheduled for two years hence.

   We shall return to these shores three summers hence.

   UsageIt comes after the length of time: two years hence; in everyday speech from now is more usual.

   Note

   Unlike its spatial and deathly siblings, the time sense is still in ordinary use. It runs from Shakespeare's "half an hour hence" in The Tempest to Marshall H. Tanick's "two years hence" in 2024. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The phrase "half an hour hence" occurs in Shakespeare's The Tempest, spoken by Miranda in Act III, scene i. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
   • Marshall H. Tanick used "two years hence" in an article published in 2024. minnpost.com
3. 3
   adverbarchaic

   Away from here; out of the place where one is.

   Ye men of Galilee! / Why stand ye looking up to heaven, where Him ye ne’er may see, / Neither ascending hence, nor returning hither again?

   1849, Arthur Hugh Clough, Easter Day

   `Now leave me,' she said, `and sleep if ye may. I must watch and think, for to-morrow night we go hence, and the time is long since I trod the path that we must follow.'

   1886, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure

   Note

   The spatial sense sits closest to the word's origin. Middle English hennes added an adverbial -s to henne, and that hiss survives in the spelling. Behind both lies Old English heonan, "away." The word pairs naturally with hither, as in Arthur Hugh Clough's "neither ascending hence, nor returning hither", from a poem written in Naples in 1849. It also sits comfortably with commands: Get thee hence, Satan! Outside such old-fashioned phrasing, from here has taken over. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • The spatial meaning corresponds to the word's etymological meaning. en.wiktionary.org
   • Middle English hennes consists of henne plus an adverbial -s, preserved as a voiceless sound in hence. en.wiktionary.org
   • The Middle English forms derive from Old English heonan, meaning away. en.wiktionary.org
   • The quoted words occur in a poem by Arthur Hugh Clough. gutenberg.org
   • The poem is dated Naples, 1849, indicating its place and year of composition. gutenberg.org
   • Get thee hence, Satan is an attested command. en.wikisource.org

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