thence Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adverb from that place or from there
    therefrom.
    • proceeded thence directly to college
    • flew to Helsinki and thence to Moscow
    • roads that lead therefrom
  2. adverb from that circumstance or source
    therefrom; thereof.
    • atomic formulas and all compounds thence constructible"- W.V.Quine
    • a natural conclusion follows thence
    • public interest and a policy deriving therefrom
    • typhus fever results therefrom
  3. adverb (used to introduce a logical conclusion) from that fact or reason or as a result
    hence; so; thus; therefore.
    • 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

WordNet

Thence adverb
Etymology
OE. thenne, thanne, and (with the adverbal -s; see -wards) thennes, thannes (hence thens, now written thence), AS. thanon, thanan, thonan; akin to OHG. dannana, dannan, danan, and G. von dannen, E. that, there. See That.
Definitions
  1. From that place. "Bid him thence go." Chaucer.
    When ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Mark vi. 11.
    ✍ It is not unusual, though pleonastic, to use from before thence. Cf. Hence, Whence.
    Then I will send, and fetch thee from thence. Gen. xxvii. 45.
  2. From that time; thenceforth; thereafter.
    There shall be no more thence an infant of days. Isa. lxv. 20.
  3. For that reason; therefore.
    Not to sit idle with so great a gift Useless, and thence ridiculous, about him. Milton.
  4. Not there; elsewhere; absent. Poetic Shak.

Webster 1913