| 释义 |
▪ I. than, conj.|ðən; as a separate word called ðæn|
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 þene, (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 skilful than his brother’ as = ‘John is more skilful; 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 skilful, John is more (so)’. The analogy of L. quam favours 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. As the latter was, and is, pronounced |ðən|, it is manifest that it might be written either then or than with equal approximation to the actual sound.]
1. a. 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 |ˈmɔəðən, ˈlɛsðən, ˈʌðəðən|).
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).
αc825Vesp. Psalter li. 5 [lii. 3] Ðu lufedes..unrehtwisnisse mae ðon spreocan rehtwisnisse. Ibid. lxxxiii[i]. 11 [10] Ic ᵹeceas..bion in huse godes mae ðone eardian in ᵹeteldum synfulra. c893K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §19 Seo [sæ] is bradre þonne æniᵹ man ofer seon mæᵹe. c1000Ags. Gosp. John i. 15 He wæs ær þonne ic. a1175Cott. Hom. 219 Þaðe hi wolde..beon betere þonne he ȝesceapen were. c1205Lay. 6515 Þe mon..Þe nimeð to him seoluen Mare þonne [c 1275 þan] he maȝen walden.
β831Charter of Eadwald in O.E. Texts 445 Nis eðelmode eniᵹ meᵹhond neor ðes cynnes ðanne eadwald. a1000ælfric Colloquy (Disc. 3) in Wr.-Wülcker 90 Leofre ys us beon beswungen for lare þænne hit ne cunnan. a1175Cott. Hom. 219 Wursan þanne æniȝ oðer. c1205Lay. 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. c1220Bestiary 267 More ðanne man weneð. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1906) 24 With fairnesse rather thanne with rudenesse.
γc1175Lamb. Hom. 17 Betere hit is þet heo beon ispilled..þenne mid alle fordon. Ibid. 139 Þis dei is..seouensiþe brictere þene þe sunne. c1205Lay. 11954 Ma þeone [c 1275 þane] heo rohten. c1275XI Pains of Hell 121 in O.E. Misc. 150 Þe stude is þustrore þene þe nyht. c1320Cast. Love 196 And raþure he dude his wyues bode Þen he heold þe heste of gode. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 2010 That ladi..That is gentelour, then ȝe or he. c1420Chron. Vilod. 3195 A nother gretter miracle ȝet þenne þis. a1425Cursor M. 9452 (Laud) She levyd more the fend Then god. 1470–85Malory Arthur ix. xxxv. 395, I am more heuy that I can not mete with hym, thenne for al the hurtes. 1535Coverdale Ps. xcv[i]. 4 He is more to be feared then all goddes. 1590Shakes. 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. 1611Bible Ps. lxxxiv. 10, I had rather be a doore keeper in the house of my God, then to dwell in the tents of wickednesse. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 745, I know thee not, nor ever saw till now Sight more detestable then him and thee. 1684Earl Roscom. Ess. Transl. Verse 48 The fault is more the Languages then theirs.
δ735Bæda Death-song 2 Naeniᵹ uuiurthit thonc snotturra than him tharf sie. c1200Ormin 1985 Þatt wollde bettre Drihhtin Godd..Þann þatt te laffdiȝ wæ re shennd. Ibid. 15689 Þatt wass till Crist ȝet ner bitahht Þan hise posstless wærenn. 1303R. 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. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. ii. 144 And deye raþere þan to do eny dedlich synne. c1440Jacob's Well 302 Ȝe are more hethyne in ȝoure werkys þan we. 1474Caxton Chesse ii. ii. b iv b, The chyld that so wysely contriued the lye rather than he wold discouere theyr counceyl. 1566Painter Pal. Pleas. (1813) II. 538, I had rather dye than once to open my mouth. 1682Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. iii. §25 Some had rather never have lived than to tread over their days once more. 1710Addison Tatler No. 220 ⁋3 Water, colder than Ice, and clearer than Christal. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. iii. §13 The generality of mankind obey rather force than reason. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xii, You have more circumspection than is wanted. 1774― Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 30 They..rather tread their enemies to death than gore them. 1782Cowper Mut. Forbearance 20 Some people are more nice than wise. 1803Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 3, I had rather ask an enlargement of power from the nation..than to assume it. 1832Tennyson To J. S. ix, Great Nature is more wise than I. 1850― In Mem. xxvii. 16 'Tis better to have loved and lost, Than never to have loved at all. 1848Dickens Dombey xxxii, Being a whit more venturesome than before. 1854A. Jameson Bk. of Th. (1877) 27 We all need more mercy than we deserve. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 36 Than which nothing..can be more irrational. 1908R. 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.1689Col. Rec. Pennsylv. I. 317 This may be sooner and safer done yn returning me yt sum. 1705Hearne Collect. 8 July (O.H.S.) I. 2 His Latin is..better yn Salmasius's.
ε1463Somerset Medieval Wills (1901) 197 If their title be better an myne. c1900New 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.
1560Bible (Genev.) Prov. xxvii. 3 A fooles wrath is heauier then them bothe. 1569J. Sandford tr. Agrippa's Van. Artes 165 We cannot resiste them that be stronger then vs. 1718Prior Better Answer 27–8 For thou art a girl as much brighter than her, As he was a poet sublimer than me. 1762Goldsm. Cit. W. xxxviii, I am, not less than him, a despiser of the multitude. a1774― Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776) I. 163 Others, later than him, who appeal to experience as well as he, affirm the contrary. 1792Wakefield Mem. (1804) I. 108 He was much older than me. 1815Scott Guy M. xvii, I..could not be expected..to be wiser than her. c1825Beddoes Second Brother i. i, You are old, And many years nearer than him to death. 1861E. O'Curry Lect. MS. Materials 253 He is better than me, then, said the monarch.
1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark 67 Or els forsake them, then whome..there is nothyng more deare vnto the. 1656Heylin Extraneus Vapulans 313 An eminent Antiquary, than whom none can be fitter to give Testimony. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 299 Bëëlzebub..then whom, Satan except, none higher sat. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xi. vi, Sophia, than whom none was more capable of [etc.]. 1876Gladstone Homeric Synchr. 60 Mr. Newton, than whom no one is of greater authority, refers them [etc.].
c. Followed by that, or by inf. 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’.
1528Tindale Wicked Mammon 45 b, This texte is playner than that it neadeth to be expounded. 1611Bible Isa. xxviii. 20 The bed is shorter, then that a man can stretch himselfe on it. 1779–81Johnson L.P., Prior Wks. III. 131 Dryden had been more accustomed to hostilities, than that such enemies should break his quiet.
1611Beaum. & Fl. Philaster i. i, Your nature is more constant than to inquire after state-news. 1670Milton Hist. Eng. vi. Wks. (1847) 553/2 Of a higher spirit than to accept her. 1693Congreve Old Bach. iv. xxii, He is more modest..than to deny it. a1704–1872 [see know v. 9 b]. 1779Mirror No. 2 ⁋6 Mr. Creech..knew his business better than to satisfy their curiosity. 1802James 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{ddd}).
a1677Barrow Serm. Ephes. v. 4 Wks. 1687 I. 202 It is a good far too pretious, than to be prostituted for idle sport. 1833I. 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. a. Than is regularly used after other, else, and their compounds (another, otherwise, elsewhere, etc.). See also other, else, etc.
[c1200Ormin 9305 Nohht elless ne nohht mare Þann þatt tatt ȝuw iss sett to don Ne do ȝe.] a1300Cursor M. 7319 Þai ask now oþer [v.r. anoþer] king þan me. c1320Cast. Love 1237 Oþer God nis non þen he. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 9251 Ys nat my body & I al on?.. Ys he a-nother than am I? 1551Recorde Pathw. Knowl. Pref., There neadeth none other proofe then Aristotle his testimony. 1573G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 1 If I do otherwise then I shuld do. 1587Golding De Mornay xxiv. 408 God was not knowne and worshipped elswhere than among the people of Israell. 1666Boyle Orig. Formes & Qual. (1667) 2 The diversity..in Bodies must..arise from somewhat else then the Matter they consist of. 1799Ht. Lee Canterb. T., Frenchm. T. (ed. 2) I. 255 [He was] no other than the rightful lord. 1896Law 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.
different(ly) than is not uncommon, esp. in the U.S., but continues to be regarded by many as incorrect. See also different a. 1 b.
c1400Mandeville (1839) viii. 109 Þei han also dyuerse clothinge and schapp..þan oþer folk han. 1566Painter Pal. Pleas. (1813) I. 317 If the lorde of Mendozza were inferiour in qualitie, nobility, and goods, than hee is. 1642Baker Malvezzi's Disc. Tacitus liii. 498 He was now made overseer of the building.., a much inferiour place than the other. 1754J. Hildrop Misc. Wks. I. 91 They imploy their Wealth..to quite opposite Purposes than were intended. 1822J. Yates Let. to Parr 19 May, in P.'s Wks. (1828) VIII. 250 Such a design..has a right to a far different head than mine. 1857Trollope Barchester T. III. xiv. 248 Things were conducted very differently now than in former times. 1902Westm. 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’.] 1912J. Webster Daddy-Long-Legs (1913) 146 It's different with me than with other girls. 1962D. Lessing Golden Notebk. 59 Both come from a different world than the housing estate outside London. 1970Amer. N. & Q. Nov. 39/1 Geoffrey and Erasmus are concerned with classifying metaphors along quite different lines than is Quintilian. 1980Outdoor Life (U.S.) (Northeast ed.) Oct. 101/1 Mule deer bucks behave differently than whitetails in a few other ways.
3. Exceptional or peculiar uses.
†a. With ellipsis of preceding comparative: = rather than, more than. Obs.
[c1000Ags. Ps. cxvii[i]. 8 God ys on Dryhten ᵹeorne 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. c1449Pecock Repr. iii. v. 307 It spedith to thee that oon of thi membris perische than that al thi bodi go into helle. 1647Trapp 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. a1648Ld. 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. 1472Surtees Misc. (1888) 25 That no man..bers unlawefull wepyn to the kirk then in the market. 1473Rolls 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.
1375Barbour Bruce i. 501 Thar is nothir man na page,..than thai sall be Fayn to mak thaim-selwyn fre. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. iii. 74 b, There is almost nothing left then a shadow therof. 1647W. 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. 1857Ruskin 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).
1864Froude Short Stud. (1867) I. 3 He had scarcely won for himself the place which he deserved, than his health was found shattered. 1903F. W. Maitland in Camb. Mod. Hist. II. xvi. 584 Hardly had the Council been re⁓opened 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.
1592Warner Alb. Eng. viii. xl. (1612) 195 A Warrior braue: But than his Sier, himselfe, one Sonne of his, Like Polititians seldome liude. 1595Trag. Sir R. Grenville (Arb.) 64 Then which the like was neuer heard before. 1602G. Blackwell in Archpriest Controv. (Camden) II. 226, I can blame none so much for defect of Almes then Mr. Collington and his adherents. 1677R. Boyle Treat. Art of War 12 Their substantial Diet, than which, none..have so good. 1723Mandeville Fab. Bees (1733) II. 201 There is nothing in which our Species so far surpasses all others, than in the Capacity [etc.].
▪ II. † than, dem. pron. Obs.
[ME. repr. OE. þam dat. sing. of se, séo, þæt, that.]
After a prep.: That; as in for þan, for that (reason), therefore; for al þan, for all that (for 23 b); not (na) for than, notwithstanding that. See also for-than.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1418 Ȝut for al þan..Hii broȝte oure louerd ihesu crist to deþe on þe rode. a1325Prose Psalter, Athanasian Creed 16 And na-for-þan þer ne ben nouȝt þre goddes. c1450Lovelich Grail xlv. 365 Nevertheless not for than the water In his Eyen stille was than.
▪ III. than, þan
obs. and dial. form of then.
▪ IV. than, thana, thane
OE. and ME. inflexions of that, the. |