Whence vs Once - What's the difference?
whence | once |
From where; from which place or source.
* 1818 , (Mary Shelley), , Chapter 4:
* 1898 , , Chapter 3:
*
*
(literary, poetic) (used for introducing the result of a fact that has just been stated)
(lb) One and only one time.
:
(lb) Formerly; during some period in the past.
:
*
*:Orion hit a rabbit once ; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill. Ikey the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft.
*{{quote-book, year=1944, author=(w)
, title= *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author=(Jonathan Freedland)
, volume=189, issue=1, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= (lb) Multiplied by one: indicating that a number is multiplied by one.
:
As soon as.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=
, volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= As soon as; when; after.
* {{quote-news, year=2011
, date=September 27
, author=Alistair Magowan
, title=Bayern Munich 2 - 0 Man City
, work=BBC Sport
As adverbs the difference between whence and once
is that whence is from where; from which place or source while once is one and only one time.As conjunctions the difference between whence and once
is that whence is used for introducing the result of a fact that has just been statedonce is as soon as; when; after.whence
English
Adverb
(-)- Whence came I?
- "Pork" comes from French, whence we get most of our modern cooking terms.
- Whence , I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed?
- At first I could not tell what this new sound was, nor whence it came, and now it seemed a little noise close by, and now a great noise in the distance. And then it grew nearer and more defined, and in a moment I knew it was the sound of voices talking.
Usage notes
* This word is uncommon in modern usage; from where'' is now usually substituted (as in the example sentence: ''Where did I come from?'' or ''From where did I come? ). It is now chiefly encountered in older works, or in poetic or literary writing. * From whence has a strong literary precedent, appearing in Shakespeare and the King James Bible as well as in the writings of numerous Victorian-era writers. In recent times, however, it has been criticized as redundant by usage commentators.Conjunction
(English Conjunctions)- The work is slow and dangerous, whence the high costs.
- I scored more than you in the exam, whence we can conclude that I am better at the subject than you are.
Antonyms
* (l)once
English
(wikipedia once)Adverb
(-)The Three Corpse Trick, chapter=5 , passage=The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common.}}
Obama's once hip brand is now tainted, passage=Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.}}
Ed Pilkington
‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told, passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}
Coordinate terms
* (one time) twice, thrice, often, never, seldom * (formerly) yesterday, tomorrowSee also
* once again, once more * once and for all * once in a blue moon * once in a while * once removed * once upon a timeConjunction
(English Conjunctions)- We'll get a move on once we find the damn car keys!
- Once you have obtained the elven bow, return to the troll bridge and trade it for the sleeping potion.
- Once he is married, he will be able to claim the inheritance.
citation, page= , passage=Not only were Jupp Heynckes' team pacey in attack but they were relentless in their pursuit of the ball once they had lost it, and as the game wore on they merely increased their dominance as City wilted in the Allianz Arena.}}
