Forms: α. 1–3 ð-, þonne, (1 ðone, ðon); β. 1 ðanne, þænne, 1–4 þanne, 3 þæne, 3–4 þane, 4–5 thanne; γ. 2–5 þenne, 2–3 þæne, (3 þeone), 3–5 þen, (5 thenne, 7 yen), 4–8 then; δ. 1 than, 2–6 þan, 3 (Orm.) þann, (4 þain), 4– than (abbrev. 7–8 yn, yn); ε. 5 an, 9 dial. ’n. [OE. þanne, þonne, þænne, also þan, þon; originally the same word as THEN (OE. þanne, þonne, þænne), the adv. of time. Its employment as the connective particle after a comparative (= L. quam, F. que) is a pre-English development, existing already in WGer.: cf. OHG. thanne, danne, MHG. danne, denne, Ger. denn (now largely supplanted by als), OS. than, MDu. danne, dan, Du. dan, all used after the comparative. (Not so in Gothic or Scandinavian.)
How the conjunctive use arose out of the adv. of time is obscure. Some would explain it directly from the demonstrative sense ‘then,’ taking ‘John is more skillful than his brother’ as = ‘John is more skillful; then (= after that) his brother.’ Others derive it from the relative or conjunctive use of OE. þonne (THEN 6), = ‘When, when as,’ thus ‘When as (whereas) his brother is skillful, John is more (so).’ The analogy of L. quam favors a relative sense.
When interrogative or demonstrative words became conjunctive or relative they lost their stress and were liable to weakening. Already in the 8th c. OE. þanne appears as ðan, þan, than, a form exemplified in nearly every century since, though down to c. 1500 the fuller contemporary forms of the demonstrative adv., þanne, þenne, þane, þene, etc., were also in use. When the adv. was reduced to þen, from the 15th c. spelt then, there was a strong tendency to spell the conjunction in the same way, which during the 16th c. nearly triumphed; but in the 17th c. the tide turned, and by 1700 or a little later the conjunction was differentiated from the adv. as than.
1. The conjunctive particle used after a comparative adjective or adverb (and sometimes after other words: see 2–4) to introduce the second member of the comparison; the conjunction expressing the comparative of inequality (cf. AS 3). In use it is always stressless, usually joined accentually to the prec. word, e.g. more than, less than, other than.
The two members of the comparison are most commonly of the same grammatical form, e.g., two clauses (the latter of which may be contracted in various ways), two substantives, two pronouns, two infinitives, two adjectives, two adverbs, etc., but not invariably so: see the quots. Two infinitives connected by than in mod. Eng. either both have to or are both without it; formerly (until c. 1800), esp. after had rather, had better, the second infinitive often had to when the first was without it.)
Instead of than after a comparative, as (like Ger. als) is common in Scotland, the north of England, and in parts of Ireland and the United States; nor (nar, ner) appears to be dialectal everywhere from Shetland to Hampshire and Cornwall, as well as in Ireland and America (see E.D.D.), but seems never to have been literary except in Sc., where also na was formerly used. In Sc. the relation is sometimes expressed by be (= by) as ‘this field is bigger be that’ (Jamieson, s.v. BE).
α. c. 825. Vesp. Psalter, li. 5 [lii. 3]. Ðu lufedes … unrehtwisnisse mae ðon spreocan rehtwisnisse. Ibid., lxxxiii[i]. 11 [10]. Ic ʓeceas … bion in huse godes mae ðone eardian in ʓeteldum synfulra.
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., I. i. § 19. Seo [sæ] is bradre þonne æniʓ man ofer seon mæʓe.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., John i. 15. He was ær þonne ic.
a. 1175. Cott. Hom., 219. Þoðe hi wolde … beon betere þonne he ȝesceapen were.
c. 1205. Lay., 6515. Þe mon … Þe nimeð to him seoluen Mare þonne [c. 1275 þan] he maȝen walden.
β. 831. Charter of Eadwald, in O. E. Texts, 445. Nis eðelmode eniʓ meʓhond neor ðes cynnes ðanne eadwald.
a. 1000. Ælfric, Colloquy (Disc. 3), in Wr.-Wülcker, 90. Leofre ys us beon beswungen for lare þænne hit ne cunnan.
a. 1175. Cott. Hom., 219. Wursan þanne æniȝ oðer.
c. 1205. Lay., 3030. Þe king heo louede more Þanne [c. 1275 þan] ba tueie þe oðre. Ibid., 8916–17. Leouere him weore þane [c. 1275 þan] al his lond, Þene al his seoluer, þæne al his gold.
c. 1220. Bestiary, 267. More ðanne man weneð.
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour (1906), 24. With fairnesse rather thanne with rudenesse.
γ. c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 17. Betere hit is þet heo beon ispilled … þenne mid alle fordon. Ibid., 139. Þis dei is … seouensiþe brictere þene þe sunne.
c. 1205. Lay., 11954. Ma þeone [c. 1275 þane] heo rohten.
c. 1275. XI Pains of Hell, 121, in O. E. Misc., 150. Þe stude is þustrore þene þe nyht.
c. 1320. Cast. Love, 196. And raþure he dude his wyues bode Þen he heold þe heste of gode.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 2010. That ladi … That is gentelour, then ȝe or he.
c. 1420. Chron. Vilod., 3195. A nother gretter miracle ȝet þenne þis.
a. 1425. Cursor M., 9452 (Laud). She levyd more the fend Then god.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, IX. xxxv. 395. I am more heuy that I can not mete with hym, thenne for al the hurtes.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. xcv[i]. 4. He is more to be feared then all goddes.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., III. i. 90. A stranger Piramus, then ere plaid here.
16[?]. Sir W. Mure, Sonn. to Margareit, i. 13. With vertue grac’d far more yen forme of face.
1611. Bible, Ps. lxxxiv. 10. I had rather be a doure keeper in the house of my God, then to dwell in the tents of wickednesse.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 745. I know thee not, nor ever saw till now Sight more detestable then him and thee.
1684. Earl Roscom., Ess. Transl. Verse, 48. The fault is more the Languages then theirs.
δ. 735. Bæda, Death-song, 2. Naeniʓ uuiurthit thonc snotturra than him tharf sie.
c. 1200. Ormin, 1985. Þatt wollde bettre Drihhtin Godd … Þann þatt te laffdiȝ wære shennd. Ibid., 15689. Þatt wass till Crist ȝet ner bitahht Þan hise posstless wrenn.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 6043. Ȝyt hyt ys wers þan ys þe lore.
13[?]. Cursor M., 23240 (Cott.). Herder þan [Edin. þain] es here irinn mell.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. II. 144. And deye raþere þan to do eny dedlich synne.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 302. Ȝe are more hethyne in ȝoure werkys þan we.
1474. Caxton, Chesse, II. ii. b iv b. The chyld that so wysely contriued the lye rather than he wold discouere theyr counceyl.
1566. Painter, Pal. Pleas. (1813), II. 538. I had rather dye than once to open my mouth.
1682. Sir T. Browne, Chr. Mor., III. § 25. Some had rather never have lived than to tread over their days once more.
1710. Addison, Tatler, No. 220, ¶ 3. Water, colder than Ice, and clearer than Christal.
1732. Berkeley, Alciphr., III. § 13. The generality of mankind obey rather force than reason.
1766. Goldsm., Vic. W., xii. You have more circumspection than is wanted. Ibid. (1774), Nat. Hist. (1776), III. 30. They … rather tread their enemies to death than gore them.
1782. Cowper, Mut. Forbearance, 20. Some people are more nice than wise.
1803. T. Jefferson, Writ. (1830), IV. 3. I had rather ask an enlargement of power from the nation … than to assume it.
1832. Tennyson, To J. S., ix. Great Nature is more wise than I. Ibid. (1850), In Mem., xxvii. 16. ’Tis better to have loved and lost, Than never to have loved at all.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xxxii. Being a whit more venturesome than before.
1854. Mrs. Jameson, Bk. of Th. (1877), 27. We all need more mercy than we deserve.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 36. Than which nothing … can be more irrational.
1908. R. Bagot, A. Cuthbert, v. 41. She would have … accepted the results even of a mésalliance … rather than that Cuthbertsheugh should not pass to a son of mine.
Mod. He likes dogs better than cats. He likes dogs better than I. That is easier said than done. He said he would sooner die than yield.
abbrev. 1689. Col. Rec. Pennsylv., I. 317. This may be sooner and safer done yn returning me yt sum.
1705. Hearne, Collect., 8 July (O.H.S.), I. 2. His Latin is … better yn Salmasius’s.
ε. 1463. Somerset Medieval Wills (1901), 197. If their title be better an myne.
c. 1900. New Engld. dial., Kicked him higher ’n a kite.
b. With a personal or relative pronoun in the objective case instead of the nominative (as if than were a preposition).
This is app. the invariable construction in the case of than whom, which is universally accepted instead of than who. With the personal pronouns it is now considered incorrect.
1560. Bible (Genev.), Prov. xxvii. 3. A fooles wrath is heauier then them bothe.
1569. J. Sanford, trans. Agrippa’s Van. Artes, 165. We cannot resiste them that be stronger then vs.
1718. Prior, Better Answer, 27–8. For thou art a girl as much brighter than her, As he was a poet sublimer than me.
1762. Goldsm., Cit. W., xxxviii. I am, not less than him, a despiser of the multitude. Ibid. (a. 1774), Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776), I. 163. Others, later than him, who appeal to experience as well as he, affirm the contrary.
1792. Wakefield, Mem. (1804), I. 108. He was much older than me.
1815. Scott, Guy M., xvii. I … could not be expected … to be wiser than her.
c. 1825. Beddoes, Second Brother, I. i. You are old, And many years nearer than him to death.
1861. O’Curry, Lect. MS. Materials, 253. He is better than me, then, said the monarch.
1548. Udall, etc., Erasm. Par. Mark, 67. Or els forsake them, then whome … there is nothyng more deare vnto the.
1656. Heylin, Extraneus Vapulans, 313. An eminent Antiquary, than whom none can be fitter to give Testimony.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 299. Bõõlzebub … then whom, Satan except, none higher sat.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, XI. vi. Sophia, than whom none was more capable of [etc.].
1876. Gladstone, Homeric Synchr., 60. Mr. Newton, than whom no one is of greater authority, refers them [etc.].
c. Followed by that, or by infin. expressing a hypothetical result or consequence.
The modern idiom would often substitute too with the positive followed by the infinitive, for the comparative with than: e.g., in quot. 1611 ’the bed is too short for a man to stretch himself’; in quot. 1693 ‘he is too modest to deny it.’ Examples occur of a confusion of the two constructions, as ‘too wise than that’ or ‘than to be.’
1528. Tindale, Wicked Mammon, 45 b. This texte is playner than that it neadeth to be expounded.
1611. Bible, Isa. xxviii. 20. The bed is shorter, then that a man can stretch himselfe on it.
1779–81. Johnson, L. P., Prior, Wks. III. 131. Dryden had been more accustomed to hostilities, than that such enemies should break his quiet.
1611. Beaum. & Fl., Philaster, I. i. Your nature is more constant than to inquire after state-news.
1670. Milton, Hist. Eng., VI. Wks. (1847), 553/2. Of a higher spirit than to accept her.
1693. Congreve, Old Bach., IV. xxii. He is more modest … than to deny it.
a. 1704–1872. [see KNOW v. 9 b].
1779. Mirror, No. 2, ¶ 6. Mr. Creech … knew his business better than to satisfy their curiosity.
1802. James, Milit. Dict., s.v. Rifled gun, The bullet ought to be no larger than to be just pressed by the rifles.
Mod. He knows better than to do that. I think more highly of him than to suppose he would do that (or, I think too highly of him to suppose…).
a. 1677. Barrow, Serm. Ephes. v. 4, Wks. 1687, I. 202. It is a good far too pretious, than to be prostituted for idle sport.
1833. I. Taylor, Fanat., i. 4. Those … who … are far too wise than to be religious. Ibid., 14. The inquiry … is too momentous … than that it should be diverted.
2. Than is regularly used after other, else, and their compounds (another, otherwise, elsewhere, etc.). See also OTHER, ELSE, etc.
[c. 1200. Ormin, 9305. Nohht elless ne nohht mare Þann þatt tatt ȝuw iss sett to don Ne do ȝe.]
a. 1300. Cursor M., 7319. Þai ask now oþer [v.r. anoþer] king þan me.
c. 1320. Cast. Love, 1237. Oþer God nis non þen he.
1426. Lydg., De Guil. Pilgr., 9251. Ys nat my body & I al on?… Ys he a-nother than am I?
1551. Recorde, Pathw. Knowl., Pref. There neadeth none other proofe then Aristotle his testimony.
1573. G. Harvey, Letter-bk. (Camden), 1. If I do otherwise then I shuld do.
1587. Golding, De Mornay, xxiv. 408. God was not knowne and worshipped elswhere than among the people of Israell.
1666. Boyle, Orig. Formes & Qual. (1667), 2. The diversity … in Bodies must … arise from somewhat else then the Matter they consist of.
1799. Ht. Lee, Canterb. T., Frenchm. T. (ed. 2), I. 255. [He was] no other than the rightful lord.
1896. Law Times, C. 410/1. The acts or defaults of any person other than himself.
b. Hence sometimes after adjs. or advbs. of similar meaning to ‘other,’ as different, diverse, opposite, and after Latin comparatives, as inferior, junior: usually with clause following. (Now mostly avoided. See also DIFFERENT a. 1 b.)
c. 1400. Maundev. (1839), viii. 109. Þei han also dyuerse clothinge and schapp … þan oþer folk han.
1566. Painter, Pal. Pleas. (1813), I. 317. If the lorde of Mendozza were inferiour in qualitie, nobility, and goods, than hee is.
1642. Baker, Malvezzi’s Disc. Tacitus, liii. 498. He was now made overseer of the building…, a much inferiour place than the other.
1754. J. Hilbrop, Misc. Wks., I. 91. They imploy their Wealth … to quite opposite Purposes than were intended.
1822. J. Yates, Lett. to Parr, 19 May, in P.’s Wks. (1828), VIII. 250. Such a design … has a right to a far different head than mine.
1902. Westm. Gaz., 19 Aug., 2/3. How about the following sentence? ‘Unless the London members behave differently about the Bill for London than the country members about the Bill for the country, reasons for postponement and consideration will begin to look weighty.’ If ‘than’ is excluded, how is it to be said? [Put ‘otherwise’ for ‘differently,’ and retain ‘than.’]
3. Exceptional or peculiar uses. † a. With ellipsis of preceding comparative: = rather than, more than. Obs.[
[c. 1000. Ags. Ps. cxvii[i]. 8. God ys on Dryhten ʓeorne to þenceanne, þonne on mannan wese mod to treowianne. Lat. Bonum est confidere in Domino, quam confidere in homine.]
13[?]. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., xxix. 46. He was Counseyled [to] hewe of his leg: Þen longe to suffre so.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., III. v. 307. It spedith to thee that oon of thi membris perische than that al thi bodi go into helle.
1647. Trapp, Comm. Epistles, 330. He did verily believe that Job was torne and tortured by his interpritations, then ever he had been by his botches and ulcers.
a. 1648. Ld. Herbert, Hen. VIII., 68. The apprentices being encouraged herewith,… than do nothing, brake open some prisons.
† b. = Nor. (? ellipsis for any more than.) Obs.
13[?]. Cursor M., 17586 (Cott.). Yeitt es he þar-wit ouer all,… And mist noiþer in heuen þen [v.rr. ne, ny] here. Ibid., 29114. Yee wate neuer dai þen night, Yur lauerd wil cum.
1472. Surtees Misc. (1888), 25. That no man … bers unlawefull wepyn to the kirk then in the market.
1473. Rolls of Parlt., VI. 95/2. That this Acte of Resumption, then noon other Acte made or to be made … extend not neither be prejudiciall unto [etc.].
c. = Except, besides, but. (? ellipsis for other than, else than, otherwise than.) Obs. or arch.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, I. 501. Thar is nothir man na page,… than thai sall be Fayn to mak thaim-selwyn fre.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., III. iii. 74 b. There is almost nothing left then a shadow therof.
1647. W. Browne, Polex., I. v. 123. The service you had done … was such as kings could not worthily acknowledge, at least, then in giving up their crownes.
1857. Ruskin, Pol. Econ. Art, 28. There is nothing left for him than the blood that comes … up to the horsebridles.
¶ d. After hardly, scarcely: = When (by confusion with no sooner than).
1864. Froude, Short Stud. (1867), I. 3. He had scarcely won for himself the place which he deserved, than his health was found shattered.
1903. F. W. Maitland, in Camb. Mod. Hist., II. xvi. 584. Hardly had the Council been reopened at Trent … than Elizabeth was allying herself with the Huguenots.
† 4. After ERE, LESS, NIGH: see these words.
¶ 5. Erroneously used (instead of as) in comparisons of equality; † like than = such as (obs.); so … than = so … as.
1592. Warner, Alb. Eng., VIII. xl. (1612), 195. A Warrior braue: But than his Sier, himselfe, one Sonne of his, Like Polititians seldome liude.
1595. Trag. Sir R. Grenville (Arb.), 64. Then which the like was neuer heard before.
1602. C. Blackwell, in Archpriest Controv. (Camden), II. 226. I can blame none so much for defect of Almes then Mr. Collington and his adherents.
1677. R. Boyle, Treat. Art of War, 12. Their substantial Diet, than which, none … have so good.
1723. Mandeville, Fab. Bees (1733), II. 201. There is nothing in which our Species so far surpasses all others, than in the Capacity [etc.].
