than

Meanings

1. 1
   conj

   Used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison.

   Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless.

2. 2
   conj

   Because; for.

   If thou say yes, then puttest thou on Christ (that is, the wisdome of God, the Father) unkunning, unpower, or euil will: for than he could not make his rule so good as an other did his.

3. 3
   prep

   Introduces a comparison, and is associated with comparatives, and with words such as more, less, and fewer. Typically, it seeks to measure the force of an adjective or similar description between two predicates.

   Patients diagnosed more recently are probably surviving an average of longer than two years.

4. 4
   adv

   At that time; then.

5. 5
   name

   A surname.

6. 6
   name

   Thangadh, a town in the Indian state of Gujarat.

7. 7
   name

   A village in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

Etymology

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.