From that place or time; from that source or origin. An archaic or formal word indicating movement or derivation from a previously mentioned point.
From Middle English 'thennes', from Old English 'thanon' meaning from there. Related to 'then' and 'there', all deriving from the same Germanic root indicating spatial or temporal reference.
Legal documents still use 'thence' frequently because precision in describing property boundaries requires this kind of directional specificity - 'thence north 100 feet' is clearer than 'then north 100 feet'. This explains why archaic words survive in specialized professional languages.
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