than

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See also:Than,thân,thần,Thân,thận,thàn,andþan

English

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EnglishWikipediahas an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishthan,thanne,fromOld Englishþanne,a variant ofþonne(“then, since, because”),fromProto-West Germanic*þan,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

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Conjunction

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than

  1. 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
  2. (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.

Preposition

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than

  1. 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

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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

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Adverb

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than(notcomparable)

  1. (now chieflydialectalor a misspelling)At that time;then.

Anagrams

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Bih

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Etymology

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InheritedfromProto-Chamic*dhaːn,fromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*daqan(“branch, bough”).

Noun

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than

  1. branch

Cornish

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Noun

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than

  1. Aspirate mutation oftan.

Haroi

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Etymology

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InheritedfromProto-Chamic*dhaːn,fromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*daqan(“branch, bough”).

Noun

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than

  1. branch

Jarai

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Etymology

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InheritedfromProto-Chamic*dhaːn,fromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*daqan(“branch, bough”).

Noun

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than

  1. branch

Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromOld Englishþonne.

Conjunction

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than

  1. than

Descendants

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  • English:than

Adverb

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than

  1. 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

Descendants

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Old Dutch

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Etymology

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FromProto-West Germanic*þan

Adverb

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than

  1. then

References

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Old High German

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromProto-West Germanic*þan

Adverb

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than

  1. then,there,when,at that time

Conjunction

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than

  1. from there,therefore,if,because,after
  2. than,(comparative)

References

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  1. Braune, Wilhelm. Althochdeutsches Lesebuch, zusammengestellt und mit Glossar versehen

Vietnamese

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Non-Sino-VietnamesereadingofChineseThan(“coal”,SV:thán).

Noun

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than•(Than,Pháo)

  1. coal
    thancủi―charcoal
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Non-Sino-VietnamesereadingofChineseThan(SV:thán).

Verb

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than

  1. tocomplain
Derived terms
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Anagrams

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Welsh

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Preposition

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than

  1. Aspirate mutation oftan.

Mutation

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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

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishthan,fromOld Englishþonne.

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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than

  1. 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

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than

  1. 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

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  • 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
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