adverb
- as an inference from this fact; for this reason; therefore: The eggs were very fresh and hence satisfactory.
- from this time; from now: They will leave a month hence.
- from this source or origin.
- Archaic.
- from this place; from here; away: The inn is but a quarter mile hence.
- from this world or from the living: After a long, hard life they were taken hence.
- henceforth; from this time on.
interjection
- Obsolete. depart (usually used imperatively).
sentence connector
- for this reason; following from this; therefore
adverb
- from this timea year hence
- archaic
- from here or from this world; away
- from this origin or source
interjection
- archaic begone! away!
late 13c., hennes, from Old English heonan “away, hence,” from West Germanic *hin- (cf. Old Saxon hinan, Old High German hinnan, German hinnen); related to Old English her “here” (see here). With adverbial genitive -s. The modern spelling (mid-15c.) is phonetic, to retain the breathy -s- (cf. twice, pence). Original sense is “away from here;” of time, from late 14c.; meaning “from this (fact or circumstance)” first recorded 1580s.