adv.
Function: conjunction
Date: 13th century
1 : from what place, source, or cause <inquired whence the water came ― Maria Edgeworth>
2 a : from or out of which place, source, or cause <the lawless society whence the ballads sprang ― DeLancey Ferguson> b : by reason of which fact : WHEREFORE <nothing broke whence I infer that my bones are not yet chalky ― O. W. Holmes † 1935>