than
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]FromMiddle Englishthan,thanne,fromOld Englishþanne,a variant ofþonne(“then, since, because”),fromProto-Germanic*þan(“at that, at that time, then”),from earlier*þam,fromProto-Indo-European*tóm,accusative masculine of*só(“demonstrative pronoun, that”).Cognate withDutchdan(“than”),Germandenn(“than”),Germandann(“then”).Doublet ofthen.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (stressed form)enPR:thăn,thĕn,IPA(key):/ðæn/,/ðɛn/
Audio(US,stressed form): (file) - Rhymes:-æn,-ɛn
- (unstressed form)enPR:thən,IPA(key):/ðən/,[ðn̩]
Audio(US,unstressed form): (file)
- Homophone:then(unstressed form,also for some speakersstressed form)
Conjunction
[edit]than
- Used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison.
- 2013July 20, “Old Soldiers?”,inThe Economist,volume408,number8845:
- Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlikethanhis hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethalthanthe bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless.
- 1665,Edward Stillingfleet, William Laud, Thomas Carwell,A Rational Account of the Grounds of Protestant Religion:
- Answer me if you can, any other way,thanbecause the Scriptures, which are infallible, Say so.
- she's tallerthanI am; she found his advice more wittythanhelpful; we have less work todaythanwe had yesterday; We had no choicethanto return home
- (obsoleteoutsidedialects,usually used withfor)Because;for.
- 1854,Reformation series:
- If thou say yes, then puttest thou on Christ (that is, the wisdome of God, the Father) unkunning, unpower, or euil will: forthanhe could not make his rule so good as an other did his.
- 1668,William Lawson,A Way to Get Wealth:
- You shall also take the fine earth or mould which is found in the hollow of old Willow trees, rising from the root almost to the middle of the Tree, at least so far as the tree is hollow, forthanthis, there is no earth or mould finer or richer.
- 1854,Reformation series:
Preposition
[edit]than
- introduces a comparison, and is associated withcomparatives,and with words such asmore,less,andfewer.Typically, it seeks to measure the force of anadjectiveor similar description between twopredicates.
- Patients diagnosed more recently are probably surviving an average of longerthantwo years.
- No player is more skillfulthanGreg.
Usage notes
[edit]Usage prescriptivistshave a number of rules concerningthan.According to them,thanis not a preposition to govern theoblique case(although it has been used as such by writers such asWilliam Shakespeare,whose 1600 playJulius Caesarcontains the lineA man no mightier than thyself or me...,andSamuel Johnson,who wroteNo man had ever more discernment than him, in finding out the ridiculous.).Thanfunctions as both conjunction and preposition; when it is used as a conjunction, it governs thenominative case,and when a preposition, theoblique case.To determine thecaseof a pronoun following "than", a writer can look to implied words and determine how they would relate to the pronoun.
Examples:
- You are a better swimmer than she.
- representsYou are a better swimmer than she is.
- thereforeYou are a better swimmer than heris, according to such prescriptivists, asolecism.
- They like you more than her.
- representsThey like you more than they like her.
- thereforeThey like you more than sheis a solecism, if it attempts to represent the previous sentence. It may be correct, however, if it representsThey like you more than she likes you.
Some prescriptivists insist thatwhommust followthan(notwho); although according to the above rule,whowould be the "correct" form in the first example. Critics of this often cite this mandatory exception as evidence that the prescriptivist rule is logically erroneous, in addition to its being inconsistent with well-established usage.
Translations
[edit]
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Adverb
[edit]than(notcomparable)
Anagrams
[edit]Cornish
[edit]Noun
[edit]than
- Aspirate mutation oftan.
Middle English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]FromOld Englishþonne.
Conjunction
[edit]than
- than
- 1470–1483(date produced),Thom̃s Malleorre [i.e.,Thomas Malory], “[The Tale ofKing Arthur]”, inLe Morte Darthur(British LibraryAdditional Manuscript 59678), [England:s.n.],folio 35, recto,lines10–11:
- Now is þ[er] ony ſeydeMarlyonthat ye love morethana noþ[er] ·
- (pleaseadd an English translationof this quotation)
Descendants
[edit]- English:than
Adverb
[edit]than
- then
- 14thCentury,Chaucer,General Prologue
- And whan that he wel dronken hadde the wyn,
Thanwolde he speke no word but Latyn.- And when he had drunk all the wine
He would not speak a word other than Latin
- And when he had drunk all the wine
- And whan that he wel dronken hadde the wyn,
- 14thCentury,Chaucer,General Prologue
Descendants
[edit]Old Dutch
[edit]Adverb
[edit]than
- then
References
[edit]Old High German
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Adverb
[edit]than
Conjunction
[edit]than
References
[edit]- Braune, Wilhelm. Althochdeutsches Lesebuch, zusammengestellt und mit Glossar versehen
Vietnamese
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Non-Sino-VietnamesereadingofChineseThan(“coal”,SV:thán).
Noun
[edit]- coal
- than củi
- charcoal
Derived terms
[edit]Etymology 2
[edit]Non-Sino-VietnamesereadingofChineseThan(SV:thán).
Verb
[edit]than
- tocomplain
Derived terms
[edit]Anagrams
[edit]Welsh
[edit]Preposition
[edit]than
- Aspirate mutation oftan.
Mutation
[edit]Welsh mutation | |||
---|---|---|---|
radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
tan | dan | nhan | than |
Note:Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Yola
[edit]Etymology
[edit]FromMiddle Englishthan,fromOld Englishþonne.
Pronunciation
[edit]Adverb
[edit]than
- then
- 1867,“A YOLA ZONG”, inSONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY,number 5, page86:
- Zitch vezzeen, tarvizzeen, 'tellthanw'ne'er zey.
- Such driving, and struggling, 'tillthenwe ne'er saw.
- 1867,“A YOLA ZONG”, inSONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY,number 8, page86:
- Thancaame ee shullereen, ee teap an corkite;
- Thencame the shouldering, tossing, and tumbling;
- 1867,“A YOLA ZONG”, inSONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY,number12,page88:
- Thanstalket, an gandelt, wie o! an gridane.
- Thenstalked and wondered, with oh! and with grief.
Preposition
[edit]than
- than
- 1867,“THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, inSONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY,number 4, page96:
- An neeat wooden trenshoorès var whiterthansnow.
- And neat wooden trenchers far whiterthansnow.
References
[edit]- Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor,A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland,London: J. Russell Smith, published1867,page86 & 96
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/æn
- Rhymes:English/æn/1 syllable
- Rhymes:English/ɛn
- Rhymes:English/ɛn/1 syllable
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English conjunctions
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English dialectal terms
- English prepositions
- English adverbs
- English uncomparable adverbs
- Cornish non-lemma forms
- Cornish mutated nouns
- Cornish aspirate-mutation forms
- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English conjunctions
- Middle English terms with quotations
- Middle English adverbs
- Old Dutch lemmas
- Old Dutch adverbs
- Old High German lemmas
- Old High German adverbs
- Old High German conjunctions
- Vietnamese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Vietnamese terms with homophones
- Vietnamese terms derived from Chinese
- Vietnamese lemmas
- Vietnamese nouns
- Vietnamese terms with usage examples
- Vietnamese verbs
- Welsh non-lemma forms
- Welsh mutated prepositions
- Welsh aspirate-mutation forms
- Yola terms inherited from Middle English
- Yola terms derived from Middle English
- Yola terms inherited from Old English
- Yola terms derived from Old English
- Yola terms with IPA pronunciation
- Yola lemmas
- Yola adverbs
- Yola terms with quotations
- Yola prepositions