thanconj.

Brit.

/ð(ə)n/,

/ðan/, U.S.

/ð(ə)n/,

/ðæn/

Forms: α. Old English–Middle English ð-, þonne, (Old English ðone, ðon); β. Old English ðanne, þænne, Old English–Middle English þanne, Middle English þæne, Middle English þane, Middle English thanne; γ. Middle English þenne, Middle English þene, (Middle English þeone), Middle English þen, (Middle English thenne, 1600s yen), Middle English–1700s then; δ. Old English than, Middle English–1500s þan, Middle English ( Orm.) þann, (Middle English þain), Middle English– than (abbrev. 1600s–1700s yⁿ, yn); ε. Middle English an, 1800s dialect 'n.

Etymology: Old English þanne , þonne , þænne , also þan , þon ; originally the same word as then adv. (Old English þanne, þonne, þænne), the adverb of time. Its employment as the connective after a comparative (= Latin quam, French que) is a pre-English development, existing already in West German: compare Old High German thanne, danne, Middle High German danne, denne, German denn (now largely supplanted by als), Old Saxon than, Middle Dutch danne, dan, Dutch dan, all used after the comparative. (Not so in Gothic or Scandinavian.)How the conjunctive use arose out of the adverb 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 Old English þonne (then adv. 6), = ‘When, when as’, thus ‘When as (whereas) his brother is skilful, John is more (so)’. The analogy of Latin 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 cent. Old English þanne appears as ðan, þan, than, a form exemplified in nearly every century since, though down to c1500 the fuller contemporary forms of the demonstrative adverb, þanne, þenne, þane, þene, etc., were also in use. When the adverb was reduced to þen, from the 15th cent. spelt then, there was a strong tendency to spell the conjunction in the same way, which during the 16th cent. nearly triumphed; but in the 17th cent. the tide turned, and by 1700 or a little later the conjunction was differentiated from the adverb 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.

a. The conjunctive particle used after a comparative adjective or adverb (and sometimes after other words: see senses 2 – 4) to introduce the second member of the comparison; the conjunction expressing the comparative of inequality (cf. as adv. 3). In use it is always stressless, usually joined accentually to the preceding 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 modern English either both have to or are both without it; formerly (until c1800), 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 German 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 Eng. Dial. Dict.), but seems never to have been literary except in Scottish, where also na was formerly used. In Scottish the relation is sometimes expressed by be (= by) as ‘this field is bigger be that’ (Jamieson at be).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > comparison > linking comparatives [conjunction]

than735

asc1300

anda1569

α.

c825 Vesp. Psalter li. 5 [lii. 3] Ðu lufedes..unrehtwisnisse mae ðon spreocan rehtwisnisse.

c825 Vesp. Psalter lxxxiii[i]. 11 [10] Ic geceas..bion in huse godes mae ðone eardian in geteldum synfulra.

c893 tr. Orosius Hist. i. i. §19 Seo [sæ] is bradre þonne ænig man ofer seon mæge.

c1000 West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) i. 15 He wæs ær þonne ic.

a1175 Cott. Hom. 219 Þaðe hi wolde..beon betere þonne he ȝesceapen were.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 3248 Þe mon..þe nimeð to him-seoluen. mare þonne [c1300 Otho þan] he maȝen walden.

β. 831 Charter of Eadwald in Old Eng. Texts 445 Nis eðelmode enig meghond neor ðes cynnes ðanne eadwald.a1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 90 Leofre ys us beon beswungen for lare þænne hit ne cunnan.a1175 Cott. Hom. 219 Wursan þanne æniȝ oðer.c1220 Bestiary 267 More ðanne man weneð.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4447 Leouere him weore þane [c1300 Otho þan] al his lond. þene al his seoluer þæne al his gold.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1513 Þe king heo louede more þanne [c1300 Otho þan] ba tueie þe oðre.a1450 Knt. de la Tour (1906) 24 With fairnesse rather thanne with rudenesse.γ. c1175 Lamb. Hom. 17 Betere hit is þet heo beon ispilled..þenne mid alle fordon.c1175 Lamb. Hom. 139 Þis dei is..seouensiþe brictere þene þe sunne.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 5964 Ma þeone [c1300 Otho þane] heo rohten.c1275 XI Pains of Hell 121 in Old Eng. Misc. 150 Þe stude is þustrore þene þe nyht.c1320 Cast. Love 196 And raþure he dude his wyues bode Þen he heold þe heste of gode.c1400 Laud Troy Bk. 2010 That ladi..That is gentelour, then ȝe or he.c1420 Chron. Vilod. 3195 A nother gretter miracle ȝet þenne þis.c1460 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Laud) l. 9452 She levyd more the fend Then god.1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur ix. xxxv. 395 I am more heuy that I can not mete with hym, thenne for al the hurtes.1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms xcv[i]. 4 He is more to be feared then all goddes.1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. i. 82 A stranger Pyramus, then ere played heere. 1611 Bible (King James) Psalms lxxxiv. 10 I had rather be a doore keeper in the house of my God, then to dwell in the tents of wickednesse. a1657 W. Mure Wks. (1898) I. i. 47 With vertue grac'd far more yen forme of face.1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 745 I know thee not, nor ever saw till now Sight more detestable then him and thee. 1684 Earl of Roscommon Ess. Translated Verse 4 The Fault is more their Languages, then theirs.δ. 735 Bæda Death-song 2 Naenig uuiurthit thonc snotturra than him tharf sie.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 15689 Þatt wass till crist ȝet ner bitahht Þan hise posstless wærenn.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1985 Þatt wollde bettre drihhtin godd..Þann þatt te laffdiȝ wære shennd.1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 6043 Ȝyt hyt ys wers þan ys þe lore.1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. ii. 144 And deye raþere þan to do eny dedlich synne.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 23240 Herder þan [Coll. Phys. þain] es here irinn mell.c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 302 Ȝe are more hethyne in ȝoure werkys þan we.1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) ii. ii. 29 The child that so wisely contriued the lye rather than he wolde discouere their counceyll.1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. xxix. f. 340 I hadde rather dye, than once to open my mouthe.a1682 Sir T. Browne Christian Morals (1716) iii. 117 Some had rather never have lived than to tread over their days once more.1710 J. Addison Tatler No. 220. ⁋3 Water, colder than Ice, and clearer than Christal.1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. iii. xiii. 194 The Generality of Mankind obey rather Force than Reason.1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xii. 117 You have more circumspection than is wanted.1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth III. 30 They..rather tread their enemies to death than gore them.1782 W. Cowper Mutual Forbearance in Poems 20 Some people are more nice than wise.1803 T. Jefferson Writings (1830) IV. 3 I had rather ask an enlargement of power from the nation..than to assume it.1832 Ld. Tennyson To J. S. ix Great Nature is more wise than I.1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xxxii. 322 Being a whit more venturesome than before.1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xxvii. 44 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. 1854 A. Jameson Bk. of Th. (1877) 27 We all need more mercy than we deserve.1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 34 Than which nothing..can be more irrational.1908 R. Bagot Anthony 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.1912 N.E.D. at Than 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 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1852) I. 317 This may be sooner and safer done yn returning me yt sum.1705 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 8 July (O.H.S.) I. 2 His Latin is..better yn Salmasius's.ε. 1463 in F. W. Weaver Somerset Medieval Wills (1901) 197 If their title be better an myne.c1900 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).Up to the 20th century this was almost invariable in than whom. With the personal pronouns it has often been considered incorrect by prescriptive grammarians.

ΚΠ

1560 Bible (Geneva) Prov. xxvii. 3 A fooles wrath is heauier then them bothe.

1569 J. Sanford tr. H. C. Agrippa Of Vanitie Artes & Sci. 165 We cannot resiste them that be stronger then vs.

a1718 M. Prior Poems Several Occasions (1723) II. 12 For thou art a girl as much brighter than her, As he was a poet sublimer than me.

1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World I. 159 I am not less than him a despiser of the multitude.

a1774 O. Goldsmith Surv. Exper. Philos. (1776) I. 163 Others, later than him, who appeal to experience as well as he, affirm the contrary.

1792 G. Wakefield Mem. (1804) I. 108 He was much older than me.

1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering I. xvii. 268 I..could not be expected..to be wiser than her.

a1849 T. L. Beddoes Second Brother i. i, in Poems (1851) I. 10 You are old And many years nearer than him to death.

1861 E. O'Curry Lect. Manuscript Materials Anc. Irish Hist. 253 He is better than me, then, said the monarch.

1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Mark 67 Or els forsake them, then whome..there is nothyng more deare vnto the.1656 P. Heylyn Extraneus Vapulans 313 An eminent Antiquary, than whom none can be fitter to give Testimony.1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 299 Bëëlzebub..then whom, Satan except, none higher sat. 1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xi. vi. 141 Sophia, than whom none was more capable of [etc.] . 1876 W. E. Gladstone Homeric Synchronism 60 Mr. Newton, than whom no one is of greater authority, refers them [etc.].

c. Followed by that, or by infinitive expressing a hypothetical result or consequence.The comparative with than is now usually replaced by too with the positive followed by the infinitive: 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’.

ΚΠ

1528 W. Tyndale That Fayth Mother of All Good Workes 45 b This texte is playner than that it neadeth to be expounded.

1611 Bible (King James) Isa. xxviii. 20 The bed is shorter, then that a man can stretch himselfe on it.

1781 S. Johnson Prior in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets VI. 5 Dryden had been more accustomed to hostilities, than that such enemies should break his quiet.

1622 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Phylaster (new ed.) i. 2 Your nature is more constant, then to enquire after State newes.1670 J. Milton Hist. Brit. vi. 279 Of a higher Spirit then to accept her.1692 R. L'Estrange Fables cii. 97 One would have thought you had known Better Things, then to Expect a Kindness from a Common Enemy.1693 W. Congreve Old Batchelour iv. iv. 41 He is more modest..than to deny it.1779 Mirror No. 2. ⁋6 Mr. Creech..knew his business better than to satisfy their curiosity.1782 F. Burney Let. to S. Crisp Aug. You and I know better than to hum or be hummed in that manner.1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. at Rifled gun The bullet ought to be no larger than to be just pressed by the rifles.1872 Punch 24 Feb. 78/2 Some persons who should know better than to talk nonsense.1912 N.E.D. at Than 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…).a1677 I. Barrow Several Serm. Evil-speaking (1678) ii. 67 It is a good far more dear and precious, then to be prostituted for idle sport.1833 I. Taylor Fanaticism i. 4 Those..who..are far too wise than to be religious.1833 I. Taylor Fanaticism i. 14 The inquiry..is too momentous..than that it should be diverted.

a. Than is regularly used after other, else, and their compounds (another, otherwise, elsewhere, etc.). See also other v., else adv., adj., n., and conj., etc.

ΚΠ

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9305 Nohht elless. ne nohht mare. Þann þatt tatt ȝuw iss sett to don Ne do ȝe.]

c1320 Cast. Love 1237 Oþer God nis non þen he.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 7319 Þai ask now oþer king þan me.

1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 9251 Ys nat my body & I al on?.. Ys he a-nother than am I?

1551 R. Record Pathway to Knowl. Pref. There neadeth none other proofe then Aristotle his testimony.

1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 1 If I do otherwise then I shuld do.

1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xxiv. 409 God was not knowne and worshipped elswhere than among the people of Israell.

1666 R. Boyle Origine Formes & Qualities 3 The diversity..in Bodies must..arise from somewhat else, then the Matter they consist of.

1799 H. Lee Canterbury Tales (ed. 2) I. 255 [He was] no other than the rightful lord.

1896 Law Times 100 410/1 The acts or defaults of any person other than himself.

b. Hence sometimes after adjectives or adverbs of similar meaning to ‘other’, as different, diverse, opposite, and after Latin comparatives, as inferior, junior: usually with clause following. Now rare except with different(ly). different(ly) than is usual in U.S. English, and is not uncommon elsewhere, though sometimes considered incorrect. See also different adj. 2b.

ΚΠ

c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (1839) viii. 109 Þei han also dyuerse clothinge and schapp..þan oþer folk han.

1566 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure I. xlv. f. 257^v If the Lord of Mendozza were inferior in qualitie, nobility, and goodes, than he is.

1642 R. Baker tr. V. Malvezzi Disc. upon Tacitus liii. 498 He was now made overseer of the building.., a much inferiour place than the other.

1754 J. Hildrop Misc. Wks. I. 91 They imploy their Wealth..to quite opposite Purposes than were intended.

1822 J. Yates Let. 19 May in S. Parr Wks. (1828) VIII. 250 Such a design..has a right to a far different head than mine.

1857 A. Trollope Barchester Towers III. xiv. 248 Things were conducted very differently now than in former times.

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’.]

1912 J. Webster Daddy-Long-Legs (1913) 146 It's different with me than with other girls.

1962 D. Lessing Golden Notebk. 59 Both come from a different world than the housing estate outside London.

1970 Amer. Notes & Queries Nov. 39/1 Geoffrey and Erasmus are concerned with classifying metaphors along quite different lines than is Quintilian.

1980 Outdoor Life (U.S.) Oct. (Northeast ed.) 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 at more adv. 1g. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

c1000 Ags. Ps. cxvii[i]. 8 God ys on Dryhten georne to þenceanne, þonne on mannan wese mod to treowianne. Lat. Bonum est confidere in Domino, quam confidere in homine.]

a1400 Minor Poems from Vernon MS xxix. 46 He was Counseyled [to] hewe of his leg: Þen longe to suffre so.

c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 307 It spedith to thee that oon of thi membris perische, than that al thi bodi go into helle.

1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. 330 He did verily believe that Job was torne and tortured by his interpritations, then ever he had been by his botches and ulcers.

a1648 Ld. Herbert Life Henry VIII 68 The apprentices being encouraged herewith,..than do nothing, brake open some prisons.

†b. = Nor. (? ellipsis for any more than.) Obsolete.

ΚΠ

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 17586 (MED) Yeitt es he þar-wit ouer all,..And mist noiþer in heuen þen [Gött. ne, Trin. Cambr. ny] here.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 29114 (MED) 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 Parl. 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.) Obsolete or archaic.

ΚΠ

1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) i. 501 Thar is nother man na page,..than thai sall be Fayn to mak thaim selwyn fre.

1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iii. iii. 74 b There is almost nothing left then a shadow therof.

a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy Hist. Polexander (1647) 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 J. Ruskin Polit. Econ. Art i. 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).

ΚΠ

1867 J. A. Froude Short Stud. 1st Ser. I. 3 He had scarcely won for himself the place which he deserved, than his health was found shattered.

1903 F. W. Maitland in Cambr. 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 n., less adj., adv., pron., n., and prep., nigh v.: see these words.

5. Erroneously used (instead of as) in comparisons of equality; †like than = such as (obsolete); so.. than = so..as.

ΚΠ

1592 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) viii. xl. 177 A Warrior braue. But than his Sier, himselfe, one Sonne of his, Like..Polititians seldome liu'de.

1595 Trag. Sir R. Grenville (Arb.) 64 Then which the like was neuer heard before.

1602 G. Blackwell in T. G. Law Archpriest Controv. (1898) II. 226 I can blame none so much for defect of Almes then Mr. Collington and his adherents.

1677 Earl of Orrery Treat. Art of War 12 Their substantial Diet, than which, none..have so good.

1729 B. Mandeville Fable Bees ii. iv. 201 There is nothing in which our Species so far surpasses all others, than in the Capacity [etc.].

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	than
释义	† thanpron. Etymology: Middle English representing Old English þam dative singular of se, séo, þæt, that pron.¹ Obsolete. After a preposition: That; as in for þan, for that (reason), therefore; for al þan, for all that (for prep., conj., n., and adv. Phrases 1a(b)); not (na) for than, notwithstanding that. See also for þan. ΚΠ 1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 1418 Ȝut for al þan..Hii broȝte oure louerd ihesu crist to deþe on þe rode. c1350 Athanasian Creed (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) 194 And na-for-þan þer ne ben nouȝt þre goddes. a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xlv. l. 365 Nevertheles not for than the water In his Eyen stille was than. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online December 2021). thanconj. Brit. /ð(ə)n/, /ðan/, U.S. /ð(ə)n/, /ðæn/ Forms: α. Old English–Middle English ð-, þonne, (Old English ðone, ðon); β. Old English ðanne, þænne, Old English–Middle English þanne, Middle English þæne, Middle English þane, Middle English thanne; γ. Middle English þenne, Middle English þene, (Middle English þeone), Middle English þen, (Middle English thenne, 1600s yen), Middle English–1700s then; δ. Old English than, Middle English–1500s þan, Middle English ( Orm.) þann, (Middle English þain), Middle English– than (abbrev. 1600s–1700s yⁿ, yn); ε. Middle English an, 1800s dialect 'n. Etymology: Old English þanne , þonne , þænne , also þan , þon ; originally the same word as then adv. (Old English þanne, þonne, þænne), the adverb of time. Its employment as the connective after a comparative (= Latin quam, French que) is a pre-English development, existing already in West German: compare Old High German thanne, danne, Middle High German danne, denne, German denn (now largely supplanted by als), Old Saxon than, Middle Dutch danne, dan, Dutch dan, all used after the comparative. (Not so in Gothic or Scandinavian.)How the conjunctive use arose out of the adverb 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 Old English þonne (then adv. 6), = ‘When, when as’, thus ‘When as (whereas) his brother is skilful, John is more (so)’. The analogy of Latin 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 cent. Old English þanne appears as ðan, þan, than, a form exemplified in nearly every century since, though down to c1500 the fuller contemporary forms of the demonstrative adverb, þanne, þenne, þane, þene, etc., were also in use. When the adverb was reduced to þen, from the 15th cent. spelt then, there was a strong tendency to spell the conjunction in the same way, which during the 16th cent. nearly triumphed; but in the 17th cent. the tide turned, and by 1700 or a little later the conjunction was differentiated from the adverb 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 senses 2 – 4) to introduce the second member of the comparison; the conjunction expressing the comparative of inequality (cf. as adv. 3). In use it is always stressless, usually joined accentually to the preceding 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 modern English either both have to or are both without it; formerly (until c1800), 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 German 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 Eng. Dial. Dict.), but seems never to have been literary except in Scottish, where also na was formerly used. In Scottish the relation is sometimes expressed by be (= by) as ‘this field is bigger be that’ (Jamieson at be). ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > comparison > linking comparatives [conjunction] than735 asc1300 anda1569 α. c825 Vesp. Psalter li. 5 [lii. 3] Ðu lufedes..unrehtwisnisse mae ðon spreocan rehtwisnisse. c825 Vesp. Psalter lxxxiii[i]. 11 [10] Ic geceas..bion in huse godes mae ðone eardian in geteldum synfulra. c893 tr. Orosius Hist. i. i. §19 Seo [sæ] is bradre þonne ænig man ofer seon mæge. c1000 West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) i. 15 He wæs ær þonne ic. a1175 Cott. Hom. 219 Þaðe hi wolde..beon betere þonne he ȝesceapen were. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 3248 Þe mon..þe nimeð to him-seoluen. mare þonne [c1300 Otho þan] he maȝen walden. β. 831 Charter of Eadwald in Old Eng. Texts 445 Nis eðelmode enig meghond neor ðes cynnes ðanne eadwald.a1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 90 Leofre ys us beon beswungen for lare þænne hit ne cunnan.a1175 Cott. Hom. 219 Wursan þanne æniȝ oðer.c1220 Bestiary 267 More ðanne man weneð.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4447 Leouere him weore þane [c1300 Otho þan] al his lond. þene al his seoluer þæne al his gold.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1513 Þe king heo louede more þanne [c1300 Otho þan] ba tueie þe oðre.a1450 Knt. de la Tour (1906) 24 With fairnesse rather thanne with rudenesse.γ. c1175 Lamb. Hom. 17 Betere hit is þet heo beon ispilled..þenne mid alle fordon.c1175 Lamb. Hom. 139 Þis dei is..seouensiþe brictere þene þe sunne.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 5964 Ma þeone [c1300 Otho þane] heo rohten.c1275 XI Pains of Hell 121 in Old Eng. Misc. 150 Þe stude is þustrore þene þe nyht.c1320 Cast. Love 196 And raþure he dude his wyues bode Þen he heold þe heste of gode.c1400 Laud Troy Bk. 2010 That ladi..That is gentelour, then ȝe or he.c1420 Chron. Vilod. 3195 A nother gretter miracle ȝet þenne þis.c1460 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Laud) l. 9452 She levyd more the fend Then god.1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur ix. xxxv. 395 I am more heuy that I can not mete with hym, thenne for al the hurtes.1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms xcv[i]. 4 He is more to be feared then all goddes.1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. i. 82 A stranger Pyramus, then ere played heere. View more context for this quotation1611 Bible (King James) Psalms lxxxiv. 10 I had rather be a doore keeper in the house of my God, then to dwell in the tents of wickednesse. View more context for this quotationa1657 W. Mure Wks. (1898) I. i. 47 With vertue grac'd far more yen forme of face.1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 745 I know thee not, nor ever saw till now Sight more detestable then him and thee. View more context for this quotation1684 Earl of Roscommon Ess. Translated Verse 4 The Fault is more their Languages, then theirs.δ. 735 Bæda Death-song 2 Naenig uuiurthit thonc snotturra than him tharf sie.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 15689 Þatt wass till crist ȝet ner bitahht Þan hise posstless wærenn.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1985 Þatt wollde bettre drihhtin godd..Þann þatt te laffdiȝ wære shennd.1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 6043 Ȝyt hyt ys wers þan ys þe lore.1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. ii. 144 And deye raþere þan to do eny dedlich synne.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 23240 Herder þan [Coll. Phys. þain] es here irinn mell.c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 302 Ȝe are more hethyne in ȝoure werkys þan we.1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) ii. ii. 29 The child that so wisely contriued the lye rather than he wolde discouere their counceyll.1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. xxix. f. 340 I hadde rather dye, than once to open my mouthe.a1682 Sir T. Browne Christian Morals (1716) iii. 117 Some had rather never have lived than to tread over their days once more.1710 J. Addison Tatler No. 220. ⁋3 Water, colder than Ice, and clearer than Christal.1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. iii. xiii. 194 The Generality of Mankind obey rather Force than Reason.1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xii. 117 You have more circumspection than is wanted.1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth III. 30 They..rather tread their enemies to death than gore them.1782 W. Cowper Mutual Forbearance in Poems 20 Some people are more nice than wise.1803 T. Jefferson Writings (1830) IV. 3 I had rather ask an enlargement of power from the nation..than to assume it.1832 Ld. Tennyson To J. S. ix Great Nature is more wise than I.1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xxxii. 322 Being a whit more venturesome than before.1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xxvii. 44 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. View more context for this quotation1854 A. Jameson Bk. of Th. (1877) 27 We all need more mercy than we deserve.1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 34 Than which nothing..can be more irrational.1908 R. Bagot Anthony 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.1912 N.E.D. at Than 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 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1852) I. 317 This may be sooner and safer done yn returning me yt sum.1705 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 8 July (O.H.S.) I. 2 His Latin is..better yn Salmasius's.ε. 1463 in F. W. Weaver Somerset Medieval Wills (1901) 197 If their title be better an myne.c1900 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).Up to the 20th century this was almost invariable in than whom. With the personal pronouns it has often been considered incorrect by prescriptive grammarians. ΚΠ 1560 Bible (Geneva) Prov. xxvii. 3 A fooles wrath is heauier then them bothe. 1569 J. Sanford tr. H. C. Agrippa Of Vanitie Artes & Sci. 165 We cannot resiste them that be stronger then vs. a1718 M. Prior Poems Several Occasions (1723) II. 12 For thou art a girl as much brighter than her, As he was a poet sublimer than me. 1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World I. 159 I am not less than him a despiser of the multitude. a1774 O. Goldsmith Surv. Exper. Philos. (1776) I. 163 Others, later than him, who appeal to experience as well as he, affirm the contrary. 1792 G. Wakefield Mem. (1804) I. 108 He was much older than me. 1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering I. xvii. 268 I..could not be expected..to be wiser than her. a1849 T. L. Beddoes Second Brother i. i, in Poems (1851) I. 10 You are old And many years nearer than him to death. 1861 E. O'Curry Lect. Manuscript Materials Anc. Irish Hist. 253 He is better than me, then, said the monarch. 1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Mark 67 Or els forsake them, then whome..there is nothyng more deare vnto the.1656 P. Heylyn Extraneus Vapulans 313 An eminent Antiquary, than whom none can be fitter to give Testimony.1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 299 Bëëlzebub..then whom, Satan except, none higher sat. View more context for this quotation1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xi. vi. 141 Sophia, than whom none was more capable of [etc.] . View more context for this quotation1876 W. E. Gladstone Homeric Synchronism 60 Mr. Newton, than whom no one is of greater authority, refers them [etc.]. c. Followed by that, or by infinitive expressing a hypothetical result or consequence.The comparative with than is now usually replaced by too with the positive followed by the infinitive: 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’. ΚΠ 1528 W. Tyndale That Fayth Mother of All Good Workes 45 b This texte is playner than that it neadeth to be expounded. 1611 Bible (King James) Isa. xxviii. 20 The bed is shorter, then that a man can stretch himselfe on it. View more context for this quotation 1781 S. Johnson Prior in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets VI. 5 Dryden had been more accustomed to hostilities, than that such enemies should break his quiet. 1622 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Phylaster (new ed.) i. 2 Your nature is more constant, then to enquire after State newes.1670 J. Milton Hist. Brit. vi. 279 Of a higher Spirit then to accept her.1692 R. L'Estrange Fables cii. 97 One would have thought you had known Better Things, then to Expect a Kindness from a Common Enemy.1693 W. Congreve Old Batchelour iv. iv. 41 He is more modest..than to deny it.1779 Mirror No. 2. ⁋6 Mr. Creech..knew his business better than to satisfy their curiosity.1782 F. Burney Let. to S. Crisp Aug. You and I know better than to hum or be hummed in that manner.1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. at Rifled gun The bullet ought to be no larger than to be just pressed by the rifles.1872 Punch 24 Feb. 78/2 Some persons who should know better than to talk nonsense.1912 N.E.D. at Than 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…).a1677 I. Barrow Several Serm. Evil-speaking (1678) ii. 67 It is a good far more dear and precious, then to be prostituted for idle sport.1833 I. Taylor Fanaticism i. 4 Those..who..are far too wise than to be religious.1833 I. Taylor Fanaticism i. 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 v., else adv., adj., n., and conj., etc. ΚΠ c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9305 Nohht elless. ne nohht mare. Þann þatt tatt ȝuw iss sett to don Ne do ȝe.] c1320 Cast. Love 1237 Oþer God nis non þen he. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 7319 Þai ask now oþer king þan me. 1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 9251 Ys nat my body & I al on?.. Ys he a-nother than am I? 1551 R. Record Pathway to Knowl. Pref. There neadeth none other proofe then Aristotle his testimony. 1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 1 If I do otherwise then I shuld do. 1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xxiv. 409 God was not knowne and worshipped elswhere than among the people of Israell. 1666 R. Boyle Origine Formes & Qualities 3 The diversity..in Bodies must..arise from somewhat else, then the Matter they consist of. 1799 H. Lee Canterbury Tales (ed. 2) I. 255 [He was] no other than the rightful lord. 1896 Law Times 100 410/1 The acts or defaults of any person other than himself. b. Hence sometimes after adjectives or adverbs of similar meaning to ‘other’, as different, diverse, opposite, and after Latin comparatives, as inferior, junior: usually with clause following. Now rare except with different(ly). different(ly) than is usual in U.S. English, and is not uncommon elsewhere, though sometimes considered incorrect. See also different adj. 2b. ΚΠ c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (1839) viii. 109 Þei han also dyuerse clothinge and schapp..þan oþer folk han. 1566 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure I. xlv. f. 257^v If the Lord of Mendozza were inferior in qualitie, nobility, and goodes, than he is. 1642 R. Baker tr. V. Malvezzi Disc. upon Tacitus liii. 498 He was now made overseer of the building.., a much inferiour place than the other. 1754 J. Hildrop Misc. Wks. I. 91 They imploy their Wealth..to quite opposite Purposes than were intended. 1822 J. Yates Let. 19 May in S. Parr Wks. (1828) VIII. 250 Such a design..has a right to a far different head than mine. 1857 A. Trollope Barchester Towers III. xiv. 248 Things were conducted very differently now than in former times. 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’.] 1912 J. Webster Daddy-Long-Legs (1913) 146 It's different with me than with other girls. 1962 D. Lessing Golden Notebk. 59 Both come from a different world than the housing estate outside London. 1970 Amer. Notes & Queries Nov. 39/1 Geoffrey and Erasmus are concerned with classifying metaphors along quite different lines than is Quintilian. 1980 Outdoor Life (U.S.) Oct. (Northeast ed.) 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 at more adv. 1g. Obsolete. ΚΠ c1000 Ags. Ps. cxvii[i]. 8 God ys on Dryhten georne to þenceanne, þonne on mannan wese mod to treowianne. Lat. Bonum est confidere in Domino, quam confidere in homine.] a1400 Minor Poems from Vernon MS xxix. 46 He was Counseyled [to] hewe of his leg: Þen longe to suffre so. c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 307 It spedith to thee that oon of thi membris perische, than that al thi bodi go into helle. 1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. 330 He did verily believe that Job was torne and tortured by his interpritations, then ever he had been by his botches and ulcers. a1648 Ld. Herbert Life Henry VIII 68 The apprentices being encouraged herewith,..than do nothing, brake open some prisons. †b. = Nor. (? ellipsis for any more than.) Obsolete. ΚΠ a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 17586 (MED) Yeitt es he þar-wit ouer all,..And mist noiþer in heuen þen [Gött. ne, Trin. Cambr. ny] here. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 29114 (MED) 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 Parl. 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.) Obsolete or archaic. ΚΠ 1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) i. 501 Thar is nother man na page,..than thai sall be Fayn to mak thaim selwyn fre. 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iii. iii. 74 b There is almost nothing left then a shadow therof. a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy Hist. Polexander (1647) 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 J. Ruskin Polit. Econ. Art i. 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). ΚΠ 1867 J. A. Froude Short Stud. 1st Ser. I. 3 He had scarcely won for himself the place which he deserved, than his health was found shattered. 1903 F. W. Maitland in Cambr. 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 n., less adj., adv., pron., n., and prep., nigh v.: see these words. 5. Erroneously used (instead of as) in comparisons of equality; †like than = such as (obsolete); so.. than = so..as. ΚΠ 1592 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) viii. xl. 177 A Warrior braue. But than his Sier, himselfe, one Sonne of his, Like..Polititians seldome liu'de. 1595 Trag. Sir R. Grenville (Arb.) 64 Then which the like was neuer heard before. 1602 G. Blackwell in T. G. Law Archpriest Controv. (1898) II. 226 I can blame none so much for defect of Almes then Mr. Collington and his adherents. 1677 Earl of Orrery Treat. Art of War 12 Their substantial Diet, than which, none..have so good. 1729 B. Mandeville Fable Bees ii. iv. 201 There is nothing in which our Species so far surpasses all others, than in the Capacity [etc.]. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < pron.1297conj.735
随便看	in graith in grass in grease in great in great beauty in great character in great excess in great force in great form in great measure in great part in great party in great random in great ruff in great spout in great store in great stress for in great sudden in great towardliness in greats in gree in green in grips in griskins in groping

† thanpron.

thanconj.