Etymologically
Log in

hinc

This is an old revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 19:13. It may differ significantly from the current version. This address is a permanent link to this version.
← Previous version Current version Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈhɪŋk][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈiŋk][1]

Forms

hinc (not comparable)[1] The full form hince appears in an inscription.[2][3]

Etymology

It goes back to ⟨*him-ce⟩, a case form of the demonstrative hic “this” with the deictic particle ⟨-ce⟩, formed like illinc and istinc.[2][3][1] The demonstrative is built on a deictic stem Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰe- with ⟨*-ḱe⟩ “here”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on:[4][5] abdūce mē hinc ab hāc, “take me away from her”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Hinc means “from here, hence”, also of absence (ille hinc abest “he is away from here”) and of the point from which a distance is measured (hince sunt Nouceriam meilia LI “from here to Nuceria is 51 miles”, in an inscription).[2] In a sequence it means “next, after this”, and repeated (hinc … hinc) or with illinc “on this side … on that side”.[2][6]

It names a source (“from this”, also of the material something is made from or the origin of a name), a cause (“hence, for this reason”) and an inference.[2] Of time it means “from now on, henceforth”.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – First found in Plautus: ille hinc abest quem ego amō.[2][4][5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: īmus hūc, hinc illūc, “we go here, then from here there”.[3][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil: hinc Tuscō claudimur amnī, “on this side we are shut in by the Tuscan river”.[2][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. From this place, hence, from here.[2][3]
  2. Away from here.[2]
  3. From here (of distance).[2]
  4. Next, after this.[2][1]
  5. hinc … hinc, hinc … illinc, on this side … on that side;[2] hinc et hinc, on each side.[6]
  6. From this (source or material).[2]
  7. For this reason, hence;[2][1] from this (as an inference).[2]
  8. From now on, henceforth.[1]

Word family

  • abhinc
  • dehinc
  • exhinc
  • prohinc

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson