Henceforth

How to spell henceforth

10 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce henceforth

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does henceforth mean?

1. adverbFrom this time on; from now onward.

Henceforth in a sentence

• The company announced that henceforth all invoices must be submitted online.

• Henceforth the office will close at five rather than six.

Where does henceforth come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Henceforth is a compound of two old native English words, hence and forth, both inherited from Old English rather than borrowed from abroad. The first part, hence, descends from the Old English heonan, meaning 'from here' or 'from this time'; the medieval -s ending and later silent -e were tacked on as part of a habit of forming adverbs (compare 'once' and 'twice'). The second part, forth, comes from Old English forth, meaning 'forward' or 'onward', and survives today in phrases like 'and so forth'. Joined together in Middle English, the pair literally meant 'forward from this point', and the word settled into its formal modern sense of 'from this moment on'. Because both halves are genuine words, the spelling trap is simply remembering it is one solid word with the silent-feeling 'ce' of hence sitting against the 'forth'.

How the word is built

• hence (from this time/place)
• forth (forward, onward)