Adjacent Words

Than definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

THAN, adv. This word is placed after some comparative adjective or adverb, to express comparison between what precedes and what follows. Thus Elijah said, I am not better than my fathers. Wisdom is better than strength. Israel loved Joseph more than all his children. All nations are counted less than nothing. I who am less than the least of all saints. The last error shall be worse than the first. He that denies the faith is worse than an infidel.
After more, or an equivalent termination, the following word implies less, or worse; after less, or an equivalent termination, it implies more or better.

Merriam Webster's

I. conjunction Etymology: Middle English than, then then, than — more at then Date: before 12th century 1. a. — used as a function word to indicate the second member or the member taken as the point of departure in a comparison expressive of inequality; used with comparative adjectives and comparative adverbs <older than I am> <easier said than done> b. — used as a function word to indicate difference of kind, manner, or identity; used especially with some adjectives and adverbs that express diversity <anywhere else than at home> 2. rather than — usually used only after prefer, preferable, and preferably 3. other than 4. when 1b — used especially after scarcely and hardly II. preposition Date: 1560 in comparison with <you are older than me> Usage: After about 200 years of innocent if occasional use, the preposition than was called into question by 18th century grammarians. Some 200 years of elaborate and sometimes tortuous reasoning have led to these present-day inconsistent conclusions: than whom is standard but clumsy <Beelzebub…than whom, Satan except, none higher sat — John Milton> <T. S. Eliot, than whom nobody could have been more insularly English — Anthony Burgess>; than me may be acceptable in speech <a man no mightier than thyself or me — Shakespeare> <why should a man be better than me because he's richer than me — William Faulkner, in a talk to students>; than followed by a third-person objective pronoun (her, him, them) is usually frowned upon. Surveyed opinion tends to agree with these conclusions. Our evidence shows that the conjunction is more common than the preposition, that than whom is chiefly limited to writing, and that me is more common after the preposition than the third-person objective pronouns. You have the same choice Shakespeare had: you can use than either as a conjunction or as a preposition.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

conj. 1 introducing the second element in a comparison (you are older than he is; you are older than he). Usage: It is also possible to say you are older than him, with than treated as a preposition, esp. in less formal contexts. 2 introducing the second element in a statement of difference (anyone other than me). Etymology: OE thanne etc., orig. the same word as THEN

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Than Than ([th][a^]n), conj. [OE. than, thon, then, thanne, thonne, thenne, than, then, AS. [eth]anne, [eth]onne, [eth][ae]nne; akin to D. dan, OHG. danne, G. dann then, denn than, for, Goth. [thorn]an then, and to E. the, there, that. See That, and cf. Then.] A particle expressing comparison, used after certain adjectives and adverbs which express comparison or diversity, as more, better, other, otherwise, and the like. It is usually followed by the object compared in the nominative case. Sometimes, however, the object compared is placed in the objective case, and than is then considered by some grammarians as a preposition. Sometimes the object is expressed in a sentence, usually introduced by that; as, I would rather suffer than that you should want. Behold, a greater than Solomon is here. --Matt. xii. 42. Which when Beelzebub perceived, than whom, Satan except, none higher sat. --Milton. It's wiser being good than bad; It's safer being meek than fierce; It's fitter being sane than mad. --R. Browning.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Than Than, adv. Then. See Then. [Obs.] --Gower. Thanne longen folk to gon on pilgrimages. --Chaucer.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. You use than after a comparative adjective or adverb in order to link two parts of a comparison. The radio only weighs a few ounces and is smaller than a cigarette packet... Indian skins age far more slowly than American or Italian ones. PREP: compar PREP group • Than is also a conjunction. He wished he could have helped her more than he did... Sometimes patients are more depressed six months later than when they first hear the bad news. CONJ: compar CONJ cl 2. You use than when you are stating a number, quantity, or value approximately by saying that it is above or below another number, quantity, or value. They talked on the phone for more than an hour. ...the three-match Test series in England, starting in less than two months time... PREP: more/less PREP n 3. You use than in order to link two parts of a contrast, for example in order to state a preference. The arrangement was more a formality than a genuine partnership of two nations... CONJ 4. less than: see less more than: see more more often than not: see often other than: see other rather than: see rather

Moby Thesaurus

alias, as compared with, aside from, bar, barring, beside, besides, by comparison with, compared with, contrarily, else, elsewise, ex, except, except for, excepting, excluding, exclusive of, in comparison with, in other respects, in other ways, leaving out, let alone, omitting, or else, other than, otherwise, outside of, over against, precluding, save, save and except, saving, taken with, unless, without