than

Meanings

1. 1
   conj

   Used to compare two things or people.

   The bus is cheaper than the train.

2. 2
   prep

   Used with words like more, less, and fewer to introduce what is being compared.

   It took us more than two hours to get there.

From Middle English than, thanne (“than; then”), from Old English þanne, a variant of þonne (“then; when; than”), from Proto-West Germanic *þannē, an alteration of *þan (“then; than”), from Proto-Germanic *þan (“then; than”), from earlier *þam, from Proto-Indo-European *tóm, accusative masculine of *só (“that”, demonstrative pronoun). Cognate with Dutch dan (“then; than”), German denn (“for; so”), German dann (“then”). Doublet of then.

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