Henden

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. An archaic adverb meaning away from this place or from here, used in older English writing to indicate departure or origin
2. A dated word, now found mainly in old texts, that signals movement away from the place where the speaker stands
3. Old-fashioned term meaning from this location, used to show that someone or something comes or goes from here

Etymology: Before it meant anything about manners, the root of this word was physical. Old English "gehende" meant "near, at hand, within reach," built on the same stem as "hand." From that sense of something being within easy grasp came the Middle English idea of a person who was handy, skilled, or ready to help, and then the courteous, gentle manner that goes with it. Forms like this one appear in Middle English, and the pattern points to a variant of the adjective "hende" rather than a separate word. Some dictionaries also connect the Middle English group to Old Norse "henda," meaning "to seize," which would tie the verb sense to the same grasping idea. The exact route into these senses is uncertain, and the spelling was not standardised, so readers meeting it in older texts should check the surrounding sense.