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Thence vs. Therefrom

When is it better to use each of these two words, thence and therefrom?

Are they completely identical, or do they differ in denotations or connotations? If so, how?

I’ve looked up both of the words in the built-in dictionary that’s included with the Mac operating system (although I’m uncertain which publisher’s dictionary they’re presenting definitions from):

thence | T͟Hens | (also from thence)

adverb formal

from a place or source previously mentioned: they intended to cycle on into France and thence home via Belgium.

  • as a consequence: studying maps to assess past latitudes and thence an indication of climate.

therefrom | T͟Herˈfräm |

adverb archaic or formal

from that or that place: there are lessons to be learned therefrom | the right not to be excluded therefrom except by order of the court | Rochester Bridge and the view therefrom.

From the definitions given there, the words appear to mean the same things as each other. Do they really?

This is for legal writing, so concision is more of concern than archaicness.

tchrist
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TylerDurden
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    They are not identical, and you shouldn't use them if you don't know precisely what they mean. – John Lawler Feb 27 '23 at 03:34
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    What's their difference? I've looked them up in my dictionary and they seem to be defined as the same meaning. – TylerDurden Feb 27 '23 at 04:36
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    You probably shouldn't use either of them; they both have an old-fashioned air, and therefrom in particular is very rare today. From there or from that would be more usual than either. Why do you want to use them? What context and style? – Stuart F Feb 27 '23 at 09:23
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    Legal writing, so concision is more of concern than archaic ness. – TylerDurden Feb 27 '23 at 09:47
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    If you're a lawyer, you should know how to write legal prose. If you're not a lawyer, don't try; it's a secret language that doesn't mean what you expect. Concision in legal writing is determined by lawyers, not grammarians. – John Lawler Feb 27 '23 at 15:36
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    Where are all of these loaded presumptions coming from? I’m just asking the differences between the meanings of these two words. I don’t care whether they’re archaic. How can I improve this question so it can get answered and reopened? – TylerDurden Feb 27 '23 at 16:02
  • @Seekinganswers You should have included the source and link to each definition, and the context (law) in your original question. ELU is (probably) not going to have a good answer for legal usage (which is like a different language...the 'loaded presumptions' are coming from not having the context of law), but can probably answer well for the general usage (which for both is rare and archaic). – Mitch Feb 27 '23 at 20:08
  • Wouldn’t including dictionary definitions violate copyright? – TylerDurden Feb 27 '23 at 20:44
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    I am voting to close this question as the OP requires the appropriate word for use in a legal context. Yet the OP gives no context. "General context" lacks detail. As a consequence everything that follows is speculation and opinion. – Greybeard Feb 27 '23 at 21:06
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    @Seekinganswers No, citing definitions is fair use, and it is anything but clear where Apple is getting those from anyway; no copyright notice was provided when I looked them up. I've edited your question to include those ones from MacOS so people stop complaining about not reading them. – tchrist Feb 27 '23 at 21:24
  • I wonder why one of the answers seems to have gotten deleted. – TylerDurden Feb 27 '23 at 21:57
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    @Seekinganswers The answer's author deleted it themselves. – Mitch Feb 27 '23 at 22:33
  • @tchrist, Apple does make it clear where it gets the content for its Dictionary application: for English it is Oxford, and the content seems to be the same as can be found online under the name Lexico. – jsw29 Feb 28 '23 at 16:33
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    @Seekinganswers, the problem with your question is that you say that you intend to use these words yourself, and in response to that several people have given you the very sensible advice that, if you need to ask here how to use them, you should not use them. If the question were about how to understand them when you see them in somebody else's text, that would be a different matter, and the question would be a reasonable one to ask on this site, but then one would want to see in the question some examples of their use that have prompted one to be curious about the matter. – jsw29 Feb 28 '23 at 16:41

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