Hi,
I’d like to know if ‘thus’ and ‘hence’ are interchangeable as some commenters online say or if they have quite separate meanings. If they are different, please give me concrete examples to show their different usage. I look forward to your feedback.
davidmich
“Thus” can have a couple of meanings. One is “as such” or “like so.” To endorse a check, sign your name thus.
Another is "therefore."The check is not endorsed, thus the bank is not expected to cash it.
“Hence” means literally “from here.” I think it originally was used primarily to lead through a line of reasoning.The square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides (the Scarecrow didn’t have so much brains after all). Hence it can be shown that a triangle with sides of 3, 4, and 5 units is a right triangle.
And through such usage, it has come to be used as a synonym for “therefore.”
So you can see that although in some usages they are interchangeable, they are not always so.
“Thus” can have a couple of meaning. One is “as such” or “like so.”
To endorse a check, sign your name thus.
Another is “therefore.”
The check is not endorsed, thus the bank is not expected to cash it.
Hence means literally “from here.” I think it originally was used primarily to lead through a line of reasoning.
The square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides (the Scarecrow didn’t have so much brains after all). Hence it can be shown that a triangle with sides of 3, 4, and 5 units is a right triangle.
And through back-construction based on such usage, it has come to be used as a synonym for “therefore.”
I think, hence I am.
So you can see that although in some usages they are interchangeable, they are not always so.
Thus can have a meaning akin to “like so” or “like this.”
You see “thus saith the Lord” a few times in the Bible, but “hence saith the Lord” would sound a bit silly.
If I remember my archaic English correctly…
Hence is related to “here,” and implies motion away from, or beginning at “here.” (Example: “Depart hence.”)
Hither implies motion toward, or ending at “here.” (Example: “Come hither”)
You also have the same pattern with “there” and “where.”
Thence…thither
Whence…whither
Each one implies motion in the same way as “here,” “hence,” and “hither.”
They are two totally different words that are mistaken for having the same meaning.
Thank you all for your helpful replies.
davidmich
Hither means “to here” and thither means “to there”. There’s also the even more archaic whither (“from there”) and flither (“from here”).
Please elaborate.
I agree with the other posters above, who’ve made it clear that the words aren’t always synonymous, but in certain cases they can be used interchangeably (like “left” and “remaining”).
Not mentioned above, but “hence” can also be used in ways where “thus” doesn’t work, as in “a few hours hence.”
But when they’re used to mean “therefore”, they’re interchangeable.
“Whither” means “to where.” I find no definition of “flither” anywhere, not even Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary.
Yes, when used to mean “therefore” they are interchangeable. I am not a linguist but I believe neither of the original meanings was “therefore” and so some purists may object to their being used as synonyms. Many words change meaning because when used properly but read or heard by people who don’t know the meaning, they infer meaning from context, not always correctly. This can be seen in the example I gave for “hence.” It is intended to mean “from here” as in “as we continue to follow this line of reasoning.” However, one infers a cause and effect relationship, and assumes that it means “therefore.” But “hence” can be used where there is no cause and effect, meaning “from here” as in “what happened next was”:We placed mice at one end of a maze either with or without cheese at the other. Hence our observations showed that a mouse learned the maze better when there was a cheese reward to be found.