Whence vs Wherefore - What's the difference?
whence | wherefore |
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)
(conjunctive, archaic) Why, for what reason, because of what.
* 1920 , (Herman Cyril McNeile), Bulldog Drummond Chapter 1
* "Job", Holy Bible King James Version, 21:7:
* 1595 ,
* 1595 ,
(conjunctive, archaic, or, formal) Therefore.
(archaic) Because of which.
:* Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. (Isaiah 30:12-13)
:* {{quote-book
, year=1914
, year_published=2009
, edition=HTML
, editor=
, author=Edgar Rice Burroughs
, title=The Mucker
, chapter=
As adverbs the difference between whence and wherefore
is that whence is from where; from which place or source while wherefore is why, for what reason, because of what.As conjunctions the difference between whence and wherefore
is that whence is used for introducing the result of a fact that has just been statedwherefore is because of which.As a noun wherefore is
an intent or purpose; a why.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)wherefore
English
Adverb
(-)- "Good morning, Mrs. Denny," he said. "Wherefore this worried look on your face? Has that reprobate James been misbehaving himself?"
- Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
- Romeo, O Romeo. Wherefore art thou, Romeo?
- Every why hath a wherefore .
Usage notes
* A common misconception is that wherefore means where''; it has even been used in that sense in cartoon depictions of Romeo and Juliet, often played for comedic effect. In ''Romeo and Juliet'', the meaning of “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” () is not “''Where'' are you, Romeo?” but “''Why are you Romeo?” (i.e. “Why did you have to be a Montague?”).See also
*Conjunction
(English Conjunctions)Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. (Isaiah 30:12-13)
citation, genre= , publisher=The Gutenberg Project , isbn= , page= , passage=Wherefore it was that by the time the authorities awoke to the fact that something had happened Billy Byrne was fifty miles west of Joliet, bowling along aboard a fast Santa Fe freight. }}