Standard Lemma guide

than

adv · conj · name · prep · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • thăn stressed form
  • thĕn stressed form
  • /ðæn/ stressed form
  • /ðɛn/ stressed form
  • US, stressed: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -æn
  • rhymes with -ɛn
  • unstressed: thən
  • unstressed: /ðən/
  • unstressed: [ðn̩]
  • US, unstressed: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • homophone: then (unstressed form, also for some speakers stressed form)
  • CMU ARPABET: DH AE1 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: DH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

At that time; then.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Qualifier: now chiefly dialectal or a misspelling

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

conj

Meaning 2

Used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The artist worried more than was necessary: there were a lot of people at the exhibition, more than came last year.
  • she's taller than I am; she found his advice more witty than helpful; we have less work today than we had yesterday; We had no (other) choice than to return home; I love you more than (what) she does, but less than he, or than I do your sisters.
  • Profits were higher than forecast.
  • City dwellers have a higher cancer rate than do countrymen. Apparently, they drink more than is good for 'em.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

conj

Meaning 3

Because; for.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dialectal, obsolete, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

name

Meaning 4

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

name

Meaning 5

Thangadh, a town in the Indian state of Gujarat.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

name

Meaning 6

A village in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

prep

Meaning 7

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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Patients diagnosed more recently are probably surviving an average of longer than two years.
  • No player is more skillful than Greg.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

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.

Borrowing from Burmese သန်း (san:) or Khmer ថន (thɑɑn).

Across languages

Translations

132 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: as — Introduces a comparison
  • Albanian: se — Introduces a comparison
  • Albanian: sesa — Introduces a comparison
  • Arabic: مِن (min) — Introduces a comparison
  • Arabic: من (men) — Introduces a comparison
  • Armenian: քան (kʻan) — Introduces a comparison
  • Asturian: que — Introduces a comparison
  • Azerbaijani: -dalay — Introduces a comparison
  • Azerbaijani: -daldi — Introduces a comparison
  • Basque: baino — Introduces a comparison
  • Belarusian: чым (čym) — Introduces a comparison
  • Belarusian: ніж (niž) — Introduces a comparison
  • Belarusian: за (za) — Introduces a comparison
  • Belarusian: як (jak) — Introduces a comparison
  • Bengali: চেয়ে (ceẏe) — Introduces a comparison
  • Breton: eget — Introduces a comparison
  • Bulgarian: от (ot) — Introduces a comparison
  • Bulgarian: не́жели (néželi) — Introduces a comparison
  • Bulgarian: не́же (néže) — Introduces a comparison
  • Bulgarian: не́гли (négli) — Introduces a comparison
  • Bulgarian: не́ли (néli) — Introduces a comparison
  • Burmese: ထက် (htak) — Introduces a comparison
  • Catalan: que — Introduces a comparison
  • Chinese Mandarin: 比 (bǐ) — Introduces a comparison
  • Cimbrian: dan — Introduces a comparison
  • Ngazidja Comorian: na — Introduces a comparison
  • Cornish: ages — Introduces a comparison
  • Cornish: es — Introduces a comparison
  • Czech: než — Introduces a comparison
  • Danish: end — Introduces a comparison
  • Dutch: dan — Introduces a comparison
  • Esperanto: ol — Introduces a comparison
  • Estonian: kui — Introduces a comparison
  • Faroese: enn — Introduces a comparison
  • Finnish: kuin — Introduces a comparison
  • French: que — Introduces a comparison
  • Galician: ca — Introduces a comparison
  • Galician: ca non — Introduces a comparison
  • Galician: que — Introduces a comparison
  • Galician: que non — Introduces a comparison
  • Georgian: ვიდრე (vidre) — Introduces a comparison
  • German: als — Introduces a comparison
  • Gothic: 𐌸𐌰𐌿 (þau) — Introduces a comparison
  • Greek: από (apó) — Introduces a comparison
  • Ancient Greek: ἤ (ḗ) — Introduces a comparison
  • Ancient Greek: ἤπερ (ḗper) — Introduces a comparison
  • Hebrew: מִ־ (mi-) — Introduces a comparison
  • Hebrew: מִמַּה שֶּׁ־ (mimá she-) — Introduces a comparison
  • Hebrew: מֵאֲשֶׁר (me'ashér) — Introduces a comparison
  • Hindi: की अपेक्षा (kī apekṣā) — Introduces a comparison
  • Hindi: ... से — Introduces a comparison
  • Hungarian: mint — Introduces a comparison
  • Hungarian: -nál — Introduces a comparison
  • Hungarian: -nél — Introduces a comparison
  • Icelandic: en — Introduces a comparison
  • Ido: kam — Introduces a comparison
  • Indonesian: daripada — Introduces a comparison
  • Irish: ná — Introduces a comparison
  • Old Irish: ol — Introduces a comparison
  • Italian: di — Introduces a comparison
  • Italian: che — Introduces a comparison
  • Japanese: ...より — Introduces a comparison
  • Kazakh: ға қарағанда (ğa qarağanda) — Introduces a comparison
  • Kazakh: гөрі (görı) — Introduces a comparison
  • Khmer: ជាង (cieŋ) — Introduces a comparison
  • Korean: ...보다 (...boda) — Introduces a comparison
  • Northern Kurdish: ji — Introduces a comparison
  • Kyrgyz: -га караганда (-ga karaganda) — Introduces a comparison
  • Kyrgyz: -дан көрө (-dan körö) — Introduces a comparison
  • Lao: ກ່ວາ (kuā) — Introduces a comparison
  • Latin: quam — Introduces a comparison
  • Latvian: nekā — Introduces a comparison
  • Lithuanian: nei — Introduces a comparison
  • Low German: denn — Introduces a comparison
  • Macedonian: од (od) — Introduces a comparison
  • Malay: daripada — Introduces a comparison
  • Norwegian Bokmål: enn — Introduces a comparison
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: enn — Introduces a comparison
  • Occitan: que — Introduces a comparison
  • Church Slavic: нежели (neželi) — Introduces a comparison
  • Church Slavic: некъли (nekŭli) — Introduces a comparison
  • Church Slavic: негъли (negŭli) — Introduces a comparison
  • Old East Slavic: нежели (neželi) — Introduces a comparison
  • Old East Slavic: чѣмъ (čěmŭ) — Introduces a comparison
  • Persian: از (az) — Introduces a comparison
  • Polish: niż — Introduces a comparison
  • Polish: aniżeli — Introduces a comparison
  • Portuguese: que — Introduces a comparison
  • Portuguese: do que — Introduces a comparison
  • Romanian: ca — Introduces a comparison
  • Romanian: decât — Introduces a comparison
  • Russian: чем (čem) — Introduces a comparison
  • Russian: не́жели (néželi) — Introduces a comparison
  • Russian: не́же (néže) — Introduces a comparison
  • Northern Sami: go — Introduces a comparison
  • Scots: nor — Introduces a comparison
  • Scottish Gaelic: na — Introduces a comparison
  • Serbo-Croatian: него — Introduces a comparison
  • Serbo-Croatian: nego — Introduces a comparison
  • Slovak: než — Introduces a comparison
  • Slovak: ako — Introduces a comparison
  • Slovene: kot — Introduces a comparison
  • Spanish: que — Introduces a comparison
  • Swahili: kuliko — Introduces a comparison
  • Swedish: än — Introduces a comparison
  • Tagalog: kaysa — Introduces a comparison
  • Tagalog: sa — Introduces a comparison
  • Tagalog: kumpara — Introduces a comparison
  • Tajik: аз (az) — Introduces a comparison
  • Telugu: కంటె (kaṇṭe) — Introduces a comparison
  • Thai: กว่า (gwàa) — Introduces a comparison
  • Tibetan: ལས (las) — Introduces a comparison
  • Turkish: göre — Introduces a comparison
  • Turkish: -den — Introduces a comparison
  • Turkish: -dan — Introduces a comparison
  • Turkmen: görä — Introduces a comparison
  • Ukrainian: ніж (niž) — Introduces a comparison
  • Ukrainian: за (za) — Introduces a comparison
  • Ukrainian: від (vid) — Introduces a comparison
  • Ukrainian: як (jak) — Introduces a comparison
  • Urdu: ... سے — Introduces a comparison
  • Uzbek: koʻra — Introduces a comparison
  • Uzbek: nisbatan — Introduces a comparison
  • Uzbek: qaraganda — Introduces a comparison
  • Venetan: de — Introduces a comparison
  • Vietnamese: hơn — Introduces a comparison
  • Volapük: ka — Introduces a comparison
  • Welsh: na — Introduces a comparison
  • Yiddish: פֿאַר (far) — Introduces a comparison
  • Yiddish: פֿון (fun) — Introduces a comparison
  • Yiddish: ווי (vi) — Introduces a comparison
  • Yiddish: איידער (eyder) — Introduces a comparison