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then. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
then, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
then in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English then(ne), than(ne), from Old English þonne, þanne, þænne (“then, at that time”), from Proto-Germanic *þan (“at that (time), then”), from earlier *þam, from Proto-Indo-European *tóm, accusative masculine of *só (“demonstrative pronoun, that”). Cognate with Dutch dan (“then”), German dann (“then”), Icelandic þá (“then”). Doublet of than.
Pronunciation
Adverb
then (not comparable)
- (temporal location) At that time.
He was happy then.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned. But he had then none of the oddities and mannerisms which I hold to be inseparable from genius, and which struck my attention in after days when I came in contact with the Celebrity.
- (temporal location) Soon afterward.
He fixed it, then left.
Turn left, then right, then right again, then keep going until you reach the service station.
1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand. We spent consider'ble money getting 'em reset, and then a swordfish got into the pound and tore the nets all to slathers, right in the middle of the squiteague season.
- (sequence) Next in order of place.
There are three green ones, then a blue one.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, with something of the stately pose which Richter has given his Queen Louise on the stairway, and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.
2013 July 19, Peter Wilby, “Finland spreads word on schools”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 30:Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.
- In addition; also; besides.
1908, E Young, “Chapter 17 White elephants”, in Peeps at Many Lands: Siam, London: Adam and Charles Black, page 75:Another legend says that now and again in the world's history a monarch appears who conquers and rules every nation under the sun. […] Then many of the Siamese believe that the animal is inhabited by the soul of some great man of the past […]
- (conjunctive) In that case.
If it’s locked, then we’ll need the key.
Is it 12 o'clock already? Then it's time for me to leave.
You don't like potatoes? What do you want me to cook, then?
1749, The Universal Magazine, volume 4, page 321:That happy minute would elate me, / End all my sorrow, grief, and cares; / Then do not frown, altho' you hate me, / But smile and dissipate my fears: […]
- (sequence) At the same time; on the other hand.
That’s a nice shirt, but then, so is the other one.
- (UK, dialect, affirmation) Used to contradict an assertion.
2001, Eric Malpass, At the Height of the Moon, page 28:‘She says Indian elephants are tidgy little things.’
‘They're not then.’ Emma was getting heated. ‘They're –’
‘Emma!’ said Jenny sharply. The child subsided.
Synonyms
Translations
at that time
- Albanian: atëherë (sq)
- Arabic: آنَذَاكَ (ʔānaḏāka), حِينَئِذٍ (ḥīnaʔiḏin)
- Aromanian: atumtsea, atuntsi
- Assamese: তেতিয়া (tetia)
- Belarusian: тады́ (tadý)
- Bengali: তখন (bn) (tokhon)
- Bulgarian: тога́ва (bg) (togáva)
- Catalan: llavors (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 當時/当时 (zh) (dāngshí), 那時/那时 (zh) (nà shí)
- Czech: tehdy (cs)
- Dalmatian: diatremun
- Dutch: toen (nl)
- Early Assamese: তেবে (tebe), তেতিক্ষণে (tetikṣoṇe)
- Esperanto: tiam (eo)
- Evenki: тэли (təli)
- Finnish: silloin (fi)
- French: alors (fr), à cette époque-là (fr)
- Galician: entón, daquela
- Georgian: მაშინ (ka) (mašin)
- German: dann (de), damals (de)
- Gothic: 𐌸𐌰𐌽 (þan)
- Greek: τότε (el) (tóte)
- Ancient: τότε (tóte), ἄρα (ára)
- Doric: τόκα (tóka)
- Guaraní: upérõ
- Hebrew: אָז (he) (az)
- Hindi: तब (hi) (tab)
- Hungarian: akkor (hu)
- Icelandic: þá (is)
- Ido: lore (io)
- Indonesian: saat itu
- Irish: ansin
- Istro-Romanian: datunče
- Italian: allora (it)
- Japanese: その時 (そのとき, sono toki), その時点 (そのじてん, sono jiten)
- Kamta: সেলা (xela)
- Khmer: ពេលនោះ (peilnŭəh), កាលនោះ (kaalnŭəh)
- Korean: 그때 (ko) (geuttae), 그 때 (geu ttae)
- Kurdish:
- Northern Kurdish: hingê (ku), wê demê, wî çaxî, wî wextî, wê gavê
- Lao: please add this translation if you can
- Latgalian: tod, tūlaik
- Latin: tum (la), deinde (la), tunc (la)
- Latvian: tad (lv)
- Lithuanian: tada
- Macedonian: тогаш (togaš)
- Malay: pada masa yang sama
- Middle Assamese: তেবে (tebe)
- Nanai: тэли (teli)
- Navajo: índa, íídą́ą́ʼ
- Neapolitan: tanno
- Norwegian: da (no), den gang
- Old English: þā
- Old Norse: þá
- Persian: پس (fa) (pas)
- Plautdietsch: donn (nds)
- Polish: wówczas (pl), wtedy (pl)
- Portuguese: então (pt), naquele tempo, naquela época
- Romanian: atunci (ro)
- Russian: тогда́ (ru) (togdá)
- Scots: than
- Scottish Gaelic: matà
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: о̏нда̄, та̀да̄
- Roman: ȍndā (sh), tàdā (sh)
- Slovak: vtedy
- Slovene: takrat (sl), tedaj
- Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian: pótom, pón
- Spanish: entonces (es), en aquel entonces
- Swedish: då (sv)
- Sylheti: ꠢꠦꠛꠟꠣ (hebla), ꠢꠡꠝꠄ (hośomoe)
- Telugu: అప్పుడు (te) (appuḍu)
- Thai: ตอนนั้น (dtɔɔn-nán)
- Turkish: bir zamanlar (tr), o zaman (tr), eskiden (tr)
- Ukrainian: тоді́ (uk) (todí)
- Urdu: تب (tab)
- Vietnamese: khi ấy, khi đó, lúc đó, lúc ấy, hồi đó
- Walloon: adon (wa), a ç' moumint la
- Welsh: bryd hynny
- Zazaki: dıma (diq), bahdo (diq), wexto
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soon afterward
- Albanian: pastaj (sq)
- Arabic: ثُمَّ (ar) (ṯumma)
- Moroccan Arabic: من بعد (men baʕd)
- Armenian: հետո (hy) (heto)
- Azerbaijani: sonra (az)
- Belarusian: заты́м (zatým)
- Bulgarian: после (bg) (posle)
- Catalan: després (ca), llavors (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 接著/接着 (jiēzhe)
- Czech: pak (cs), potom (cs)
- Dutch: toen (nl) (past tense), dan (nl) (present and future tenses)
- Esperanto: tiam (eo)
- Finnish: sitten (fi)
- French: puis (fr), ensuite (fr)
- Georgian: მერე (mere), კვლავ (ḳvlav)
- German: dann (de), danach (de), anschließend (de)
- Gothic: 𐌱𐌹𐌸𐌴𐌷 (biþēh)
- Greek:
- Ancient: εἶτα (eîta), ἔπειτε (épeite)
- Guaraní: upéi
- Hebrew: אחר כך (akhar-kakh)
- Hindi: फिर (hi) (phir)
- Hungarian: aztán (hu), azután (hu), majd (hu), utána (hu)
- Ido: lore (io)
- Indonesian: lalu (id)
- Irish: i ndiadh sin
- Istriot: puoi
- Italian: poi (it), quindi (it)
- Japanese: それから (sorekara), その後 (sono ato), その後 (sono go), そして (ja) (soshite)
- Khmer: រួចមក (ruəc mɔɔk), បន្ទាប់មក (bɑntoap mɔɔk), ក្រោយមក (kraoy mɔɔk)
- Korean: 나중에 (najung'e), 이후 (ko) (ihu)
- Kumyk: сонг (soñ), сонгра (soñra)
- Kurdish:
- Northern Kurdish: paşî (ku), dûre (ku), piştre (ku), dûvre (ku), peyre
- Lao: please add this translation if you can
- Latin: deinde (la), exinde (la)
- Lombard: pö, pœu
- Luxembourgish: dunn (lb)
- Macedonian: потоа (potoa)
- Malay: tidak lama kemudian
- Maltese: mbagħad
- Maori: kātahi
- Mbyá Guaraní: ha'e gui, ha'e vy
- Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
- Norwegian: så (no), deretter (no), siden (no)
- Old English: þā
- Old Norse: þá
- Pashto: بيا (ps) (byâ)
- Persian: سپس (fa) (sepas), بعد (fa) (ba'd)
- Plautdietsch: dan
- Polish: (a) następnie (pl), (a) potem (pl)
- Portuguese: então (pt), depois (pt), em seguida
- Romanian: apoi (ro)
- Romansch: alura
- Russian: зате́м (ru) (zatém), пото́м (ru) (potóm), по́сле (ru) (pósle) (colloquial)
- Scots: syne
- Scottish Gaelic: an dèidh sin, an dèidh làimhe
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: затим, потом (sh), после (Ekavian), послије (Ijekavian), након тога
- Roman: zatim (sh), potom (sh), posle (sh) (Ekavian), poslije (sh) (Ijkavian), nakon toga
- Sicilian: poi
- Slovak: potom
- Slovene: potém (sl)
- Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian: pótom, pón
- Spanish: luego (es)
- Swahili: kisha
- Swedish: därpå (sv), sen (sv), sedan (sv), så (sv)
- Taos: yíane
- Tashelhit: ⵄⴰⴷ (ɛad)
- Thai: แล้วก็ (lɛ́ɛo-gɔ̂ɔ)
- Tocharian B: ṅke
- Tok Pisin: orait
- Turkish: sonra (tr)
- Ukrainian: по́тім (pótim)
- Urdu: پھر (phir)
- Venetian: po, può
- Vietnamese: sau đó (vi), rồi (vi), xong rồi
- Walloon: adon-pwis (wa), adon-après (wa), pu (wa), adon (wa)
- Zazaki: demena, solığna
|
next in order
- Albanian: pastaj (sq)
- Arabic: ثُمَّ (ar) (ṯumma)
- Armenian: հետո (hy) (heto)
- Assamese: তাৰ পাছত (tar pasot)
- Bengali: এরপর (bn) (eropor), তারপর (bn) (taropor)
- Bulgarian: след това (sled tova)
- Catalan: després (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 接著/接着 (jiēzhe), 然後/然后 (zh) (ránhòu), 就 (zh) (jiù)
- Czech: pak (cs), potom (cs)
- Dutch: dan (nl)
- Esperanto: tiam (eo)
- Finnish: sitten (fi)
- French: puis (fr)
- Georgian: please add this translation if you can
- German: danach (de)
- Greek:
- Ancient: τότε (tóte), ἄρα (ára), ἔπειτα (épeita)
- Hungarian: aztán (hu), majd (hu)
- Indonesian: lalu (id)
- Italian: poi (it), quindi (it)
- Japanese: それから (sorekara), その後 (sono ato), その後 (sono go), 次に (tsugi ni)
- Kamta: তাৰ পাছোত (tar pasüt)
- Kurdish:
- Northern Kurdish: paşî (ku), dûre (ku), piştre (ku), dûvre (ku), peyre
- Lao: please add this translation if you can
- Latin: deinde (la), exinde (la)
- Malay: selepas itu
- Malayalam: പിന്നെ (ml) (pinne)
- Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
- Navajo: índa
- Norwegian: så (no), deretter (no)
- Old English: þā
- Pashto: بيا (ps) (byâ)
- Polish: (a) następnie (pl), (a) potem (pl)
- Portuguese: então (pt), depois (pt), seguidamente, sequencialmente
- Quechua: hinaspa
- Romanian: atunci (ro)
- Romansch: alura
- Russian: зате́м (ru) (zatém), пото́м (ru) (potóm)
- Serbo-Croatian: pa (sh)
- Slovene: potém (sl)
- Spanish: después (es)
- Swedish: sen (sv), sedan (sv)
- Sylheti: ꠔꠣꠞ ꠛꠣꠖꠦ (tar bade), ꠔꠣꠞ ꠙꠞꠦ (tar fore)
- Taos: yíane
- Tocharian B: ṅke
- Turkish: ondan sonra (tr)
- Vietnamese: rồi (vi), rồi đến, rồi tới
- Volapük: täno (vo)
- Walloon: adon (wa), après (wa)
- Zazaki: dıma (diq)
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in that case
- Arabic: إِذًا (ʔiḏan), إِذَنْ (ar) (ʔiḏan)
- Armenian: ուրեմն (hy) (uremn)
- Assamese: তেনেহ’লে (tenehöle), তেন্তে (tente), তে (te)
- Belarusian: тады́ (tadý), дык (dyk), то (to), у такі́м вы́падку (u takím výpadku), у такі́м ра́зе (u takím rázje)
- Breton: neuze (br)
- Bulgarian: тогава (bg) (togava)
- Catalan: llavors (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 那麼/那么 (zh) (nàme), 便 (zh) (biàn), 就 (zh) (jiù)
- Czech: pak (cs), potom (cs)
- Dutch: dan (nl)
- Esperanto: tiam (eo)
- Finnish: niin (fi)
- French: alors (fr), auquel cas (fr)
- Galician: entón, daquela
- Georgian: please add this translation if you can
- German: dann (de), so (de)
- Hebrew: אז (he) (az)
- Hindi: तो (hi) (to)
- Hungarian: akkor (hu)
- Italian: allora (it)
- Japanese: そのとき (sonotoki), だから (ja) (dakara)
- Kamta: তাহালে (tahale)
- Khmer: ដូច្នេះ (km) (doucneh), អញ្ចឹង (ʼɑñcəng)
- Korean: 그러면 (ko) (geureomyeon)
- Kurdish:
- Northern Kurdish: pa (ku), de (ku), madem (ku)
- Lao: please add this translation if you can
- Latin: tunc (la), tum (la), igitur
- Lithuanian: tada
- Malay: oleh sebab yang demikian
- Malayalam: എങ്കിൽ (ml) (eṅkil)
- Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
- Northern Thai: please add this translation if you can
- Norwegian: da (no), i så fall (no)
- Old English: þā
- Old Norse: þá
- Pashto: بيا (ps) (byâ)
- Persian: پس (fa) (pas)
- Polish: to (pl), wówczas (pl)
- Portuguese: então (pt), nesse caso
- Quechua: hinaspa
- Romanian: atunci (ro), apoi (ro)
- Russian: то (ru) (to), тогда́ (ru) (togdá), в тако́м слу́чае (v takóm slúčaje)
- Scottish Gaelic: ma-thà, a-rèist
- Serbo-Croatian: onda (sh), dakle (sh), u tom slučaju
- Shan: please add this translation if you can
- Spanish: entonces (es)
- Swedish: alltså (sv), då (sv), i så fall (sv)
- Sylheti: ꠔꠦ (te), ꠔꠣꠁꠟꠦ (taile)
- Thai: please add this translation if you can
- Tok Pisin: orait
- Turkish: o hâlde (tr), o zaman (tr), öyleyse (tr)
- Ukrainian: тоді́ (uk) (todí), то (uk) (to), у тако́му ра́зі (u takómu rázi)
- Urdu: تو (to)
- Vietnamese: thì (vi), thế thì (vi), vậy thì (vi)
- Walloon: dabôrd (wa), adon (wa)
- Yiddish: דעמאָלט (demolt)
- Zazaki: no hal
- Zhuang: please add this translation if you can
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at the same time; on the other hand
- Catalan: mentrestant (ca), al mateix temps (ca)
- Dutch: trouwens (nl)
- Esperanto: tamen (eo)
- Finnish: toisaalta (fi)
- French: cependant (fr), en même temps (fr)
- Galician: tamén (gl)
- Georgian: please add this translation if you can
- German: genauso (de), gleichermaßen (de)
- Hungarian: ugyanakkor (hu), viszont (hu), másfelől (hu), másrészt (hu)
- Italian: allo stesso tempo
- Japanese: そのとき (sono toki)
- Kurdish:
- Northern Kurdish: li milê din, li alî dî
- Latin: contra ea, alioqui, autem (la)
- Lithuanian: tada
- Norwegian: da (no)
- Bokmål: på den annen side
- Polish: również (pl), także (pl)
- Portuguese: ao mesmo tempo, simultaneamente (pt); entretanto (pt)
- Russian: тогда́ (ru) (togdá)
- Serbo-Croatian: doduše (sh)
- Spanish: también (es)
- Swedish: samtidigt (sv), å andra sidan (sv)
- Walloon: mins nerén (wa), min nén pus, mins non pus (wa)
- Zazaki: fına zi, coy ra
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See also
Adjective
then (not comparable)
- Being so at that time.
2011, Alessandra Lemma, Mary Target, Peter Fonagy, Brief Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy: A Clinician's Guide, page 124:He had met his then girlfriend when he had just started university. The relationship ended unhappily when the girlfriend complained that he never wanted to go out.
Translations
Noun
then
- That time
- It will be finished before then.
Translations
Translations to be checked
Conjunction
then
- Obsolete spelling of than
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 30, page 299:[…] his hand, more ſad [i.e., heavy, hard] then lomp of lead, […]
1595, Ouids Banquet of Sence. A Coronet for his Miſtreſſe Philoſophie, and his amorous Zodiacke. VVith a tranſlation of a Latine coppie, written by a Fryer, Anno Dom. 1400, London: I. R. for Richard Smith:And as a Pible caſt into a Spring, / Wee ſee a ſort of trembling cirkles riſe, / One forming other in theyr iſſuing / Till ouer all the Fount they circulize, / So this perpetuall-motion-making kiſſe, / Is propagate through all my faculties, / And makes my breaſt an endleſſe Fount of bliſſe, / Of which, if Gods could drink, theyr matchleſſe fare / Would make them much more bleſſed then they are.
c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. (First Quarto), London: W W for Cutbert Burby, published 1598, →OCLC; republished as Shakspere’s Loves Labours Lost (Shakspere-Quarto Facsimiles; no. 5), London: W Griggs, , , →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:Clow[ne]. O they haue lyud long on the almſbaſket of wordes. I maruaile thy M.hath not eaten thee for a worde, for thou art not ſo long by the head as honorificabilitudinitatibus: Thou art eaſier ſwallowed then a flapdragon.
1611, Joseph Hall, “Epistle VIII. To E.B. Dedicated to Sir George Goring.”, in Epistles , volume III, London: [William Stansby and William Jaggard] for Samuell Macham, , →OCLC, 5th decade, pages 95–96:To ſet the minde on the racke of long meditation (you ſay) is a torment: to follow the ſwift foote of your hound alday long, hath no wearineſſe: what would you ſay of him that finds better game in his ſtudie, then you in the fielde, and would account your diſport his puniſhment? ſuch there are, though you doubt and wonder.
- Misspelling of than.
Derived terms
References
Anagrams
Swedish
Pronoun
then
- Obsolete spelling of den
Vietnamese
Etymology
Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 栓 (SV: thuyên). The obsolete form thoen is attested in some texts.
Pronunciation
Noun
(classifier cái) then • (杄, 扦, 栓)
- bar, peg (used for locking a door)
- latch
Derived terms
Zou
Noun
then
- maggot
References