English → Latin
“whence” in Latin
undeof what origin, country, family, stock; out of what, from what origin or source; (loosely) by what means, on account of meōto go along, pass or traverse
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
whence
Interrogative, (1) Of place, unde? ex aliquo loco? whence are you? (i. e., of what country?) cujas es? when he was asked whence he came, quura interrogaretur, cujatem se esse diceret. (2) Of persons, means, etc., unde? a or ex quo homine? (from whom?) ex aliqua re? (from what?) whence have you this? a quo hoc accepisti (general term) =? unde datum hoc sumis? (who gave you this?) unde id scis? (how do you know this?) whence comes it, that? unde fit, ut, etc.
Relative, (1) Of place, unde: ab aliquo loco: ex quo loco. They returned to the place whence they came, reversi sunt, unde profecti erant. (2) Of a cause or source, unde. Whence it comes that, unde, or ex quo, fit, ut; qua ex re fit, ut.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for whence?
- The usual Latin words for “whence” are unde, meō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.