different between wither vs whence

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?w?ð?/; enPR: w?th??r
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?w?ð?/
• Rhymes: -?ð?(?)
• Homophone: whither (some accents)

Etymology 1

From Middle English widren, wydderen (“to dry up, shrivel”), related to or perhaps an alteration of Middle English wederen (“to expose to weather”), from Old English wederian (“to expose to weather, exhibit a change of weather”).

Verb

wither (third-person singular simple present withers, present participle withering, simple past and past participle withered)

1. (intransitive) To shrivel, droop or dry up, especially from lack of water.
2. (transitive) To cause to shrivel or dry up.

   • There was a man which had his hand withered.

   • now warm in love, now with'ring in the grave

3. (intransitive, figuratively) To lose vigour or power; to languish; to pass away.
   • 1782, William Cowper, Expostulation

     States thrive or wither as moons wax and wane.

4. (intransitive) To become helpless due to emotion.
5. (transitive) To make helpless due to emotion.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with whither.

Derived terms

• wither away

Translations

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

wither (plural withers)

1. singular of withers (“part of the back of a four-legged animal that is between the shoulder blades”)
   • 2007, Sara Douglass, Enchanter, Macmillan (?ISBN):

     Timozel had slid his feet quickly from the stirrups and swung his leg over the horse's wither as it slumped to the ground, standing himself in one graceful movement.

   • 2008, Kate Luxmoore, Introduction to Equestrian Sports (?ISBN), page 140:

     If a saddle tips too far forward it may rest on the horse's wither and cause pain. There should always be a gap of roughly 5 cm between the horse's wither and the pommel when you are sitting on the saddle.

Etymology 3

From Middle English wither, from Old English wiþer (“again, against”, adverb in compounds), from Proto-West Germanic *wiþr (“against, toward”).

Adverb

wither (comparative more wither, superlative most wither)

1. (obsolete or chiefly in compounds) Against, in opposition to.

Etymology 4

From Middle English witheren, from Old English wiþerian (“to resist, oppose, struggle against”).

Verb

wither (third-person singular simple present withers, present participle withering, simple past and past participle withered)

1. (obsolete) To go against, resist; oppose.

Anagrams

• whiter, writhe

English

Etymology

From Middle English whennes, from Old English hwanone (with adverbial genitive -s), related to hwænne (whence when). Analyzable as when +? -s.

Pronunciation

• enPR: hw?ns, IPA^(key): /??ns/
• (in accents with the wine-whine merger) enPR: w?ns, IPA^(key): /w?ns/
• Rhymes: -?ns

Adverb

whence (not comparable)

1. (archaic, formal or literary) From where; from which place or source.

   Whence came I?

   "Pork" comes from French, whence we get most of our modern cooking terms.

   • 1818, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Chapter 4:

     Whence, I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed?

   • 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 564:

     […] But when I had bestridden the plank, quoth I to myself, "Thou deserveth all that betideth thee. All this is decreed to me of Allah (whose name be exalted!), to turn me from my greed of gain, whence ariseth all that I endure, for I have wealth galore."

   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, Chapter 3:

     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 contemporary usage; from where is now usually substituted (as in the example sentence: Where did I come from? or From where did I come?). Whence is now mainly encountered in older works and in poetic or literary writing.
• From whence has a strong literary precedent, appearing in Wyclif's Bible translation, 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.

Antonyms

• whither

Derived terms

Related terms

• hence
• thence

Translations

Conjunction

whence

1. (literary, poetic) Used for introducing the result of a fact that has just been stated.

   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

• whither

Related terms

• hence
• thence

Translations