Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb For this reason; therefore.
  • adverb From this source.
  • adverb From this time; from now.
  • adverb From this place; away from here.
  • adverb From this life.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • From this place; from or away from here.
  • From this time; in the future.
  • For this cause or reason; as a consequence of, or an inference or a deduction from, something just stated.
  • From this source or original.
  • To send away; despatch.
  • To go hence; go away: depart.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To send away.
  • adverb From this place; away.
  • adverb From this time; in the future.
  • adverb From this reason; therefore; -- as an inference or deduction.
  • adverb From this source or origin.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb archaic from here, from this place, away
  • adverb archaic in the future from now
  • adverb conjunctive as a result; therefore, for this reason
  • adverb temporal location from this time, from now
  • verb obsolete To send away.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb from this place
  • adverb from this time
  • adverb (used to introduce a logical conclusion) from that fact or reason or as a result

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English hennes, from here : henne (from Old English heonan; see ko- in Indo-European roots) + -es, adv. suff.; see –s.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

A later Middle English spelling, retaining the breathy -s, of hennes, (henne + adverbial genitive ending -s), from Old English heonan ("away", "hence"), from a West Germanic root *khin- (compare Old Saxon hinan, Old High German hinnan, German hinnen, Dutch heen, Swedish hän); related to Old English her ("here").

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Examples

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  • I couldn't sleep at all last night hence I am going to go to the bed when I get home.

    January 22, 2013