adv. (conj., adj., sb.) Forms: see below. [OE. þanne, þǫnne, þænne, þonne, ME. þenne, þan, þen, = OFris. thenne, thanne, than, OS. thanna, than (MDu. danne, dan, Du. dan), OHG. danne, denne (MHG. danne, denne, G. dann); cf. also Goth. þan; adverbial formations from the demonstr. root þa-: cf. THAT, THE.
See also THAN conj., orig. the same word, which in both senses varied in ME. and 16th c. between then and than. So Mod. Ger. now has dann adv. ‘then,’ denn conj. ‘than.’ Du. has dan in both senses. The history in OTeut. presents many points of difficulty: see Per Persoon in Indog. Forsch. II. 206, Van Helten in Paul & Br. Beitr., XXVIII. 552.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
α. 1–3 (5) þonne.
898. Þonne [see B. 1].
971. Blickl. Hom., 11. Ond þæt ʓeweorþeþ on domes dæʓe … Þonne forhtiaþ ealle ʓesceafta.
c. 1205. Lay., 711. Þonne [c. 1275 wane] men gað to bedde.
[a. 1425. Cursor M., 7961 (Trin.). Dauid gat ȝitt a son þonne [rhyme salomonne].]
β. 1–5 þanne, (3–4 tanne), 3–4 þane, 4 thane, 4–5 thanne.
871–89. Charter of Ælfred, in O. E. Texts, 451. Þanne ʓeselle he cc peninga eʓhwylce ʓere. Ibid., 452. Ðanne ann ic ðem … alles mines erfes to brucenne.
c. 1200. Ormin, 221. & tanne comm he siþþenn ut. Ibid. Þanne [see B. 1].
c. 1205. Lay., 1546. Þane [c. 1275 wane] he wule … scaðe were wrchen.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 153 (Cott.). Hit sal be reddynn þanne [G. þane, F. þan]. Ibid., 21618 (Edin.). Ilke paskis … Þis croce was tanne man wont to se.
c. 1330. Assump. Virg., 767. But þei sawe in þat stede þana Liand as it were amana [= manna].
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xii. (Mathias), 353. Þane kyste [= cast] þai cuttis til assay.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well (E.E.T.S.), 191. Þanne þis heued preyere doth þe no profyȝt.
γ. 1–3 þænne.
c. 1000. Ags. Ps. (Th.), xcv[i]. 5. Heofonas þænne worhte haliʓ Drihten.
a. 1050. Byrhtferth’s Handboc, in Anglia, VIII. 306. Swa fela tida beoð þænne on þam dæʓe & on þære nihte.
c. 1205. Lay., 9521. Þænne beoð hit þe wurse.
δ. 2–5 þenne, (3 þeonne), 4 þene, 4–6 thenne, 5 þeyne, þynne, thynne, theynne.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 135. Ðenne þeȝs folkes larþew his sed wule sawen.
c. 1205. Lay., 12037. [They] iseȝen scipen an & an … þeonne [c. 1275 þan] feowere þenne fiue.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxxi. (Eugenia), 106. Þe oure-men þat þe cite gouernyt þene.
c. 1420. Avow. Arth., xxx. Thenne waknut the king.
c. 1420. Chron. Vilod., 2078. Alle þey þenne for hurre gret sorwe þey made. Ibid., 2095. And sore weptone and snobbedone þeyne. Ibid., 3253. He was kyng of Englonde ȝet þynne.
1600. St. Papers Eliz., Domestic, CLXXVIII. No. 78 (P.R.O.). Thenne he was at the same play.
ε. 2–4 þann, 3–4 þan (tan), 4–7 (dial. –9) than (5 þon); 4–5 þen, 5– then.
c. 1200. Ormin, 4197. Domess daȝȝ, Þann all mannkinn shall risenn.
c. 1275. Lay., 6396. Morbidus þe bolde warþ þan a-bolwe.
13[?]. Cursor M., 367 (Gött.). Þe world … Þat ȝeit was þan [Cott. tan] of forme vnschapin. Ibid., 3860 (Cott.). Fra þan. [c. 1375 F. þen] wit laban duelled he.
c. 1400. Ywaine & Gaw., 805. Hastily Þan went þai all And soght him.
a. 1425. Cursor M., 6152 (Trin.). Þei were whenne þei to go bigon Six hundride þousonde fote men þon [all other MSS. bigan … þan].
c. 1440. Then [see B. 4].
c. 1450. St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 1503. It falles oft þen and þen.
a. 1568. Ascham, Scholem., Pref. (Arb.), 17. I was glad than and do rejoice yet.
1643. Denham, Cooper’s H., 135. Than did Religion in a lazy Cell, In empty, aery Contemplations dwell.
B. Signification.
* Demonstrative adverb of time.
1. At that time. (Referring to a specified time, past or future: opposed to NOW 1.)
† Then as, at the time that, when (= sense 6): see AS B. 27.
Beowulf, 1456. Næs þæt þonne mætost mæʓen-fultuma þæt him on ðearfe lah ðyle hroð-gares.
898. O. E. Chron., an. 894. Swa hit þonne fierdleas wæs.
c. 1200. Ormin, 4200. Whase þanne [at doomsday] wurrþiȝ beoþ To takenn eche blisse.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 14506 (Cott.). Biscops war þai þan [Trin. þo] a-bute.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 2. In Westsex was þan a kyng, his [name] was Sir Ine.
1424. in Picton, L’pool Munic. Rec. (1883), I. 22. That we should go with him to Liverpull, then as the said congregation and riots were ordained to be.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., I. xi. 55. The al hool Bible was not thanne.
1582. Allen, Martyrd. Campion (1908), 85. Naming one but newly cummen then into the realme.
1605. Shaks., Macb., I. vii. 49. When you durst do it, then you were a man.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., X. 492. Sir Walter Aston, then Leiger Ambassadour there.
1763. J. Brown, Poetry & Mus., v. 67. Melody had then its greatest Power, when the Melody was most confined in its Compass.
1796. Lamb, Lett. to Coleridge, 13 June. I hope to be able to pay you a visit (if you are then at Bristol) some time in … August.
1857. Buckle, Civiliz., I. xiii. 717. History, as it was then written.
† b. Strengthened by as preceding: see AS B. 34 a.
1456. Sir G. Haye, Law Arms (S.T.S.), 126. The autoritee of the grete officer slokis as than … the autoritee of the smallare officer.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, I. 375. Off that labour as than he was nocht sle.
1523–1653. [see AS B. 34 a].
c. At the time defined by a relative or other clause (with verb in pres. tense). (Cf. Now 4.)
c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 468. Þan has a man les myght þan a beste When he es born.
1456. Sir G. Haye, Law Arms (S.T.S.), 120. It folowis nocht na the vertu of force … is alswele in his curage than as before.
1567. Maplet, Gr. Forest, A vij. As it is with yse which dissolueth, then when it vanisheth away.
a. 1644. Quarles, Sol. Recant., Sol. xii. 49. Give him the firstlings of thy strength, even than When fading Childehood seeks to ripen man Vpon thy downy cheeks.
1772. Toplady, Hymn, ‘Your harps, ye trembling saints,’ vii. When we in darkness walk,… Then is the time to trust our God.
1908. [Miss E. Fowler], Betw. Trent & Ancholme, 43. Then is the time to turn our backs upon the sun.
d. Then and there († then there), at that precise time and place; immediately and on the spot. (Also there and then: see THERE adv. 13.)
1436. Rolls of Parlt., IV. 498. Ye said William … putte hir in a stronge chaumbre till nyght; and yen yere … felonousely … ravysshed ye said Isabell. Ibid. (1442), V. 42/1. Which entre … was thenne and there graunted.
1587. in Picton, L’pool Munic. Rec. (1883), I. 63. It was then and there concluded by a general consent.
1600. Abp. Abbot, Exp. Jonah, 220. To be brought to the pits brinke, and then and there to be stayed.
1825. Scott, Betrothed, xxxi. The Constable De Lacy … was then and there to deliver to the Flemings a royal charter of their immunities.
1889. J. K. Jerome, Three Men in Boat, 212. We had insisted … that the things should be sent with us then and there.
2. Now and then, † then and then (obs.), at one time and at another, at various times, at intervals, occasionally (cf. here and there). Now … then..., at one time … at another time. (See also NOW 6 b, 7 b.)
c. 1205. [see A. δ].
13[?]. Cursor M., 1848 (Fairf.). Þai … wende ay þan and þan to droun.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XI. vii. (Bodl. MS.), lf. 108 b/2. It [rain] … comeþ doune thanne and thanne.
c. 1450. St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 1467. He walde it tell’ þan and þan.
c. 1550. R. Bieston, Bayte Fortune, B iij. The ryche peraduenture oppresseth nowe and than.
a. 1555. Philpot, Exam. & Writ. (Parker Soc.), 334. If that those at any time, then and then, be deceived.
1670. Eachard, Cont. Clergy, 26. Now and then in an age, one miraculously, beyond all hopes, proves learned.
1763. C. Johnston, Reverie, II. 239. She listened to him…, asking him every now and then such questions as should [etc.].
a. 1825. Forby, Voc. E. Anglia, s.v. Tan, Than … loses the aspirate in one phrase only, ‘now and tan’ for ‘now and then.’
1894. Baring-Gould, Deserts S. France, II. 245. Restive, now sullen, then in boisterous revolt.
** Of sequence in time, order, consequence, incidence, inference.
3. At the moment immediately following the action, etc., just spoken of; upon that, thereupon, directly after that; also in wider application, indicating the action or occurrence next in order of time: next, after that, afterwards, subsequently (often in contrast to first).
Sometimes, in narrative, introducing a speech with ellipsis of said (now poet. or rhet.).
971. Blickl. Hom., 21. Se mon se þe gód onginneþ & þonne ablinneþ.
a. 1000. Phœnix, 216. Bæl bið onæled þonne brond þeceð heoredreorʓes hus.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 36. Þeonne valleð adun, & siggeð, ‘Christe audi nos,’ twie.
13[?]. Cursor M., 3904 (Cott.). Rachell bare … First ioseph, þan beniamin.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. XII. 139. And þanne I kneled on my knes and kyste her wel sone.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 95. Þen Anec onane riȝt efter þire wordis, A lowde laȝter he loȝe.
c. 1440. Alphabet of Tales, 196. And þe bisshop sayd; ‘Nay, son, þer is none now in all þis land’ … And þan þis Malchus: ‘In þis I hafe a great mervayle, ffor [etc.].’
1526. Tindale, Mark iv. 28. First the blad, then the eares, after that [R.V. 1881 then] full corne in the eares.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, lxxxvii. 277. He … sayd how he wolde slee Huon, & than haue Esclaramounde to his wyfe.
1627. Hakewill, Apol. (1630), 214. He cast high in the aire, then received it againe in his armes.
a. 1654. Selden, Table-T. (Arb.), 49. First we Fast, and then we Feast.
1776. Trial of Nundocomar, 23/1. He was at first very ill, then got better; he is now worse.
1859. Tennyson, Enid, 300. Then Yniol, ‘Enter therefore and partake [etc.].’
1895. Law Times Rep., LXXIII. 21/2. The annuity was regularly paid up to 1878, then Mr. Harle got into difficulties.
b. In the next place, next (in a series of any kind, or esp. in order of narration); beyond that, more than that, in addition, besides.
c. 1290. St. Michael, 511, in S. Eng. Leg., I. 314. Þat fuyr is hext,… þe eir is þanne next bi-neothe.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 64. Viue & þritti ssiren … Barcssire, & hamptessire, & þanne middelsex.
1588. Parke, trans. Mendoza’s Hist. China, III. xxvi. 406. Then forwards on there are other two small kingdoms.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., II. i. 358. First,… my house within the City Is richly furnished … then at my farme I haue a hundred milch-kine.
1652. Needham, trans. Selden’s Mare Cl., 32. Then, it is added next, concerning the West-border [etc.].
1707. Farquhar, Beaux Strat., I. i. Aim[well]. … What other company have you in Town? Bon[iface]. A power of fine Ladies; and then we have the French Officers.
1828. Scott, F. M. Perth, vi. Then there are the minstrels, with their romaunts and ballads.
1847. C. Brontë, J. Eyre, xvi. And then she had such a fine head of hair.
4. In that case; in those circumstances; if that be (or were) the fact; if so; when that happens. Often correl. to if or when. What then? (ellipt.) what happens (or would happen) in that case? what of that?
695–6. Laws of Wihtræd, c. 26. ʓif man friʓne man … ʓefo, þanne wealde se cyning ðreora anes [etc.].
971. Blickl. Hom., 41. ʓif ʓe þonne ʓelyfaþ … þonne biþ hit eow nyt ʓeseald.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 137. Ðenne bið þes monnes wile ibeht mid þere elmisse.
c. 1205. Lay., 9521. Þænne beoð hit þe wurse.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 508 (Cott.). Wane þi lust is ago, Þanne is þi song ago also.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, II. 536 (585). Be ȝe wys as ȝe ben fayr to se, Wel in þe ringe than is the ruby.
c. 1440. York Myst., iv. 69. An ye do, then shall ye dye.
1533. Gau, Richt Vay (S.T.S.), 32. For quhy if he is owr fader thane ar we his barnis and aris.
1564. Brief Exam., ****ij. What then? Did he not appoynt temperall rites?
1593. Shaks., Lucr., 380. O had they in that darkesome prison died, Then had they seene the period of their ill.
a. 1677. Hale, Prim. Orig. Man., I. iii. 86. Then he could never have ridden out an eternal period.
1782. Miss Burney, Cecilia, V. ix. Suppose you … had never a farthing but of your own getting; where would you be then?
1826. Art of Brewing (ed. 2), 203. The screw is sometimes made of wood, and then it is mostly nine or ten inches diameter.
b. But then...: but, that being so; but at the same time; but on the other hand, but: introducing a statement (rarely a phrase) in some way contrasted with or limiting the preceding.
1445. in Anglia, XXVIII. 279. But than thi soule … right benygne to othir, A Juge greyous for shamefastnes is felt vnto thi selfe.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, V. i. 205. He is then a Giant to an Ape, but then is an Ape a Doctor to such a man.
1672. Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.), Rehearsal, III. i. It is not very necessary to the Plot … But then it’s as full of Drollery as ever it can hold.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), VI. 286. The Fishing Frog … very much resembles a tadpole or young frog, but then a tadpole of enormous size.
1826. Disraeli, Viv. Grey, I. iv. There was … some difficulty in keeping all things in order, but then Vivian Grey was such an excellent manager!
1887. Birrell, Obiter Dicta, Ser. II. Pope Ess., 1899, I. 182. Pope knew next to no Greek, but then he did not work upon the Greek text.
c. Or then = or, if not, then…; or failing that; or else, or otherwise; or even. Sc.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, I. 217. Gud Knychtis … For litill enchesoune or than nane, Thai hangyt be the nekbane.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, I. vi. 43. Quhiddir thou be Dyane,… Or than sum goddes of the nymphis kynd.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.), I. 7. Verie conuenient to feid horse or nout, or flockis of scheip or gait, or than grett harte and hyne.
1634. Rutherford, Lett. (1881), 500. Pray Him to tarry, or then to take us with Him. Ibid. (1636), 320. They are … valuing Him at their unworthy halfpenny or else exchanging and bartering Christ with the miserable old fallen house of this vain world, or then they lend Him out upon interest.
1825. Jamieson, s.v., Come hame sune, or than I’ll be angry.
5. (As a particle of inference, often unemphatic or enclitic.) That being the case; since that is so; on that account; therefore, consequently, as may be inferred; so. Now then: see NOW 9 b.
971. Blickl. Hom., 39. Us is þonne mycel nedþearf þæt we ʓebuʓon to him.
c. 1230. Hali Meid., 5. Nis ha þenne sariliche … akast & in to þewdom idrahen.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 2491. Sire graunte me þanne … As moche place as mid a þuong ich may aboute tille.
13[?]. Cursor M., 5987 (Gött.). Wend on þann, siþen ȝe wil ga.
c. 1400. Apol. Loll., 4. It is certayn þan, þowe he be his seruaunt.
a. 1500[?]. Wycket (1828), p. v. Why shoulde it then be taken awaye frome us.
1539. Bible (Great), 2 Sam. iii. 18. Now then do it.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., II. ii. 35. Fal. Good-morrow, good-wife. Qui. Not so, and’t please your worship. Fal. Good maid then. Ibid. (1600), A. Y. L., IV. iii. 176. Well then, take a good heart, and counterfeit to be a man.
1668. Milton, P. L., The Verse. This neglect then of Rime so little is to be taken for a defect … that [etc.].
1773. Goldsm., Stoops to Conq., V. ii. Hast. This is a riddle. Tony. Riddle me this then.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., xx. ‘Ha!’ said the Countess, hastily; ‘that rumour then is true, Janet.’
1884. W. C. Smith, Kildrostan, 86. We give up our cruise, then, after all?
*** As relative or conjunctive adv. of time.
† 6. At the time that; when. Obs.
971. Blickl. Hom., 17. Þonne se mona wanað, þonne tacnað he ure deaþlicnesse.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Colloq., in Wr.-Wülcker, 102/13. Swyþe waxʓeorn eart þu, þonne [L. cum] þu ealle þingc etst.
1056–66. Inscr. Kirkdale Ch., Yorks. Orm … bohte scs Gregorivs minster ðonne hit wes æl tobrocan & tofalan.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 35. Ne beo he nefre swa riche, forð he scal þenne is dei cumeð.
c. 1200. Ormin, 8401. He wass, þanne he þiderr for, Neh off an ȝeress elde.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 420 (Cott.). Þu forbernest welneȝ for onde Þane ure blisse cumeþ to londe.
c. 1300. Harrow. Hell (MS. E.), 37. Þan ihesu hadde spilt his blod For our sinnes on þe rode, He nam him be riȝt way Vnto helle.
c. 1425. Eng. Conq. Irel., 4. Than hir lord hit herde, he was ther-of tened swith stronge.
a. 1440. Sir Eglam., 286. Then hys howndys began to baye, That harde [= heard] the jeant there he laye.
**** As sb. or adj.
7. Preceded by a preposition, as by, since, till, etc. (= by, etc. that time). (Cf. NOW 13.)
a. 1300. Cursor M., 10953 (Cott.). Als he forwit [Gött. bifore] þan was wont.
1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 4647. Fra þan Til þe day of dome.
a. 1400. R. Glouc.’s Chron. (Rolls), App. G. 258. King belin after þan to þis lond gan wende.
c. 1430. Chev. Assigne, 143. By þenne was þe hermyte go in-to þe wode.
1509. Bp. Fisher, Funeral Serm. C’tess of Richmond, Wks. (E.E.T.S.), I. 294. The matynes of our lady, which kepte her to then.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 93. Till then who knew The force of those dire Arms?
1794. Mrs. Radcliffe, Myst. Udolpho, xlii. All the time between then and now seems as nothing.
1884. Punch, 26 April, 197/2. I used your Soap Two Years ago; since then I have used no other.
1905. Daily News, 5 Jan., 6. The little man … had by then recovered himself.
b. By then that, by the time that; ellipt. by then (as relative), by the time: see BY A. 21 c. Now arch. or dial.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 99. By than that endyd was the fight, The fals were feld.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, I. x. 49. By than they were redy on horsbak, there were vij C knyghtes.
c. 1500. Robin Hood, 1737 By than the yere was all agone, He had no man but twayne.
1634. Milton, Comus, 540. This evening late by then the chewing flocks Had ta’n their supper on the savoury Herb … I sate me down.
1788. T. Taylor, Proclus’ Comm. (1792), I. 12. By then he was twenty-eight years of age he composed a multitude of works.
1863. Reade, Hard Cash, I. v. 157. By then he had folded and addressed it, she returned.
1906. Graphic, 29 Dec., 892/1. By then ye’ve been church-cried, I’ll be in t’ chimney corner like any proper old gaffer.
8. That time; the time referred to (esp. a past time): often contrasted with now. Cf. NOW 14, 15.
1549–50. Paget, Lett., 22 Feb., in Strype, Eccl. Mem., II. App. II. The tyme is tourned: then was then, and now is now.
1601. Shaks., All’s Well, III. ii. 62. When thou canst get the Ring vpon my finger, which neuer shall come off,… then call me husband: but in such a (then) I write a Neuer.
1674. N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 161. God could bring forth the world at that then, wherein or when he had cast with himself the world could afterwards be made.
1847. W. Thom, in Whistlebinkie (1890), II. 234. Companion of my happy then!
1901. Daily News, 19 March, 6/3. He reveals a corresponding contrast between the then and the now.
9. a. In sense 1, followed by a participle or adjective forming an adj. phrase, as the then existing system = the system then existing. (See also 10 a.)
1653. Baxter, Saints’ R., II. vi. § 2 (ed. 4), 257. That the extirpation of Piety was the then great design.
1827. Scott, Highl. Widow, ii. The then unwonted circumstance … of a passenger being seen on the high-road.
1870. Lowell, Among my Bks., Ser. I. (1873), 6. The trivium … and the quadrivium … of the then ordinary university course.
1888. Bryce, Amer. Commw. (1889), I. xlvi. 548. The then existing Constitution.
b. attrib. or as adj. That existed or was so at that time; the then ruler = the ruler that then was. (Cf. Now 16.)
1584. ? Sidney, Earl of Leicester, Misc. Wks. (1829), 263. He saith they are no gentlemen, affirming, that the then duke of Northumberland was not born so.
1620. E. Blount, Horæ Subs., 367. To the then Bishop of Rome.
a. 1647. Pette, in Archæologia, XII. 255. The most noble prince, my then master.
1765. Blackstone, Comm., I. ii. 157. A bill … was countenanced by the then ministry, for limiting the number of the peerage.
1876. L. Stephen, Hist. Eng. Th. 18th C., I. 203. In the then state of critical enquiry.
***** 10. Comb. a. advb., with pples. or adjs., as then-instant, -ruling, -united (cf. 9 a); b. attrib. † then-skill, a reason belonging to the particular time or occasion (cf. SKILL sb. 3): for a then-skill, for the occasion; then-time, the time that was then, the past time referred to.
1602. Warner, Alb. Eng., Epit. The said Edmund (whom the Duke’s faction for a then-Skill surnamed Crook backe).
1605. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. iii. III. Law, 198. While the then-Time’s hideous face and form Bonds them (alas!) nothing but wrack and storm.
1621. G. Sandys, Ovid’s Met., VIII. (1626), 165. Whose waues … That then-vnited masse of earth dis-ioyne.
a. 1656. Bp. Hall, Rev. Unrevealed, § 11. The expectation of the then-instant appearing of Christ.
1848. C. C. Clifford, Aristoph., Frogs, 40. Without the leave Of the then-ruling powers.
Hence Then v. (nonce-wd.), in phr. to now it and then it: see NOW.
