then

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /ðɛn/, SAMPA: /DEn/
• (Canada) IPA: /ðen/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophones: unstressed than
• Rhymes: -ɛn

Etymology

From Middle English then(ne), than(ne), from Old English þonne, þanne, þænne (“then, at that time”), from Proto-Germanic *þan-, *þana- (“at that (time), then”), from Proto-Indo-European *to- (“demonstrative pronoun”). Cognate with Dutch dan (“then”), German dann (“then”), Icelandic þá (“then”). Related to than.

Adverb

then (not comparable)

1. (temporal location) At that time.

   He was happy then.

2. (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.

3. (sequence) Next in order; in addition.

   There are three green ones, then a blue one.

4. (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?

5. (sequence) At the same time; on the other hand.

   That’s a nice shirt, but then, so is the other one.

6. (obsolete) At the time that; when.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book I.23, reprinted 1817, Sir Thomas Malory, William Caxton, Morte Darthur: The Byrth, Lyf, and Actes of Kyng Arthur, Volume 1, page 37:

     Than the knyght sawe hym lye soo on the ground, he alyght and was passynge heuy, for he wende he had slayne hym [...].

7. (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

• (soon afterward): and then, and so, subsequently, so
• (next in order): and then

Translations

at that time

Albanian: atëherë (sq) Arabic: ثم (ar) (thúmma) Belarusian: тады (be) (tadý) Bengali: তখন (bn) (tôkhôn) Catalan: llavors Chinese: Mandarin: 當時 (zh), 当时 (zh) (dāngshí), 那時 (zh), 那时 (zh) (nà shí) Czech: tehdy (cs) Dutch: toen (nl) Esperanto: tiam (eo) Finnish: silloin (fi) French: alors (fr), à cette époque-là (fr) German: dann (de), damals (de) Greek: τότε (el) (tóte) Hebrew: אז (he) (az) Hindi: तब (hi) (tab) Hungarian: akkor (hu) Italian: allora (it) Japanese: そのとき (ja) (sono toki) (その時 (ja)), その時点 (ja) (そのじてん, sono jiten) Kurdish: hingê, wê demê, wî çaxî, wî wextî, wê gavê

Latin: tum (la), deinde (la), tunc (la) Lithuanian: tada (lt) Malay: pada masa yang sama Navajo: índa Norwegian: da (no), den gang (no) Old English: þā (ang) Polish: wówczas (pl), wtedy (pl) Portuguese: então (pt), naquele tempo (pt), naquela época (pt), nesse tempo, nessa época (pt) Romanian: atunci (ro) Russian: тогда (ru) (togdá) Scots: than Scottish Gaelic: matà (gd) Serbian: onda (sr), tada (sr) Spanish: entonces (es) Swedish: då (sv) Telugu: అప్పుడు (appuDu) Ukrainian: тоді (uk) (todí) Urdu: تب (ur) (tab) Welsh: bryd hynny (cy)

soon afterward

Albanian: pastaj Arabic: ثم (ar) (thúmma) Armenian: հետո (hy) (heto) Chinese: Mandarin: 接著 (zh), 接着 (zh) (jiēzhe) Czech: pak (cs), potom (cs) Dutch: toen (past tense), dan (present and future tenses) Esperanto: tiam (eo) Finnish: sitten (fi) French: puis (fr) Hindi: फिर (hi) (phir) Hungarian: aztán (hu), azután (hu), majd (hu) Ido: lore (io) Irish: i ndiadh sin (ga) Italian: poi (it) Japanese: それから (ja) (sorekara), その後 (ja) (sono ato), その後 (ja) (sono go), そして (ja) (soshite) Kurdish: paşî, dûre, piştre, dûvre, peyre Latin: deinde (la), exinde (la)

Luxembourgish: dunn (lb) Malay: tidak lama kemudian Norwegian: så (no), deretter (no), siden (no) Old English: þā (ang) Persian: سپس (fa) (sepas), پس (fa) (pas), بعد (fa) (ba'd) Polish: (a) następnie, (a) potem (pl) Portuguese: então, depois (pt), em seguida (pt) Romanian: apoi (ro) Russian: затем (ru) (zatém), потом (ru) (potóm) Scottish Gaelic: an dèidh sin (gd), an dèidh làimhe (gd) Serbian: zatim (sr), potom (sr), posle (sr) Slovene: potem (sl) Spanish: luego (es) Swedish: därpå (sv), sen (sv), sedan (sv), så (sv) Taos: yíane Urdu: پھر (ur) (phir)

next in order

Albanian: pastaj Arabic: ثم (ar) (thúmma) Armenian: հետո (hy) (heto) Bengali: এরপর (bn) (erpôr), তারপর (bn) (tarpôr) Chinese: Mandarin: 接著 (zh), 接着 (zh) (jiēzhe), 然後 (zh), 然后 (zh) (ránhòu), 就 (zh) (jiù) Czech: pak (cs), potom (cs) Dutch: dan (nl) Esperanto: tiam (eo) Finnish: sitten (fi) French: puis (fr) German: danach (de) Hungarian: aztán (hu), majd (hu) Japanese: それから (ja) (sorekara), その後 (ja) (sono ato), その後 (ja) (sono go), 次に (ja) (tsugi-ni)

Kurdish: paşî, dûre, piştre, dûvre, peyre Latin: deinde (la), exinde (la) Malay: selepas itu Navajo: índa Norwegian: så (no), deretter (no) Old English: þā (ang) Polish: (a) następnie, (a) potem Portuguese: então, depois (pt), seguidamente (pt), sequencialmente (pt) Romanian: atunci (ro) Russian: затем (ru) (zatém), потом (ru) (potóm) Slovene: potem (sl) Spanish: después (es) Swedish: dessutom (sv), sen (sv), sedan (sv) Taos: yíane Volapük: täno (vo)

in that case

Arabic: ثم (ar) (thúmma) Armenian: ուրեմն (hy) (uremn) Belarusian: тады (be) (tadý) Chinese: Mandarin: 那麼 (zh), 那么 (zh) (nàme), 便 (zh) (biàn) Czech: pak (cs), potom (cs) Dutch: dan (nl) Esperanto: tiam (eo) Finnish: niin (fi) French: alors (fr) German: denn (de) Hindi: तो (hi) (to) Hungarian: akkor (hu) Italian: allora (it) Japanese: そのとき (ja) (sonotoki), だから (ja) (dakara) Kurdish: pa (ku), de (ku), madem (ku)

Latin: tunc (la), tum (la) Lithuanian: tada (lt) Malay: oleh sebab yang demikian Norwegian: da (no), i så fall (no) Old English: þā (ang) Persian: پس (fa) (pas) Polish: to, wówczas Portuguese: então, nesse caso (pt) Romanian: atunci (ro) Russian: тогда (ru) (togdá), в таком случае (ru) (v takóm slúčaje) Scottish Gaelic: ma-thà (gd), a-rèist (gd) Spanish: entonces (es) Swedish: alltså (sv), då (sv), i så fall (sv) Ukrainian: тоді (uk) (todí) Urdu: تو (ur) (to) Vietnamese: thì (vi)

at the same time; on the other hand

Dutch: trouwens (nl) Esperanto: tamen (eo) Finnish: toisaalta (fi) Hungarian: ugyanakkor (hu), viszont (hu) Italian: allo stesso tempo (it) Japanese: そのとき (ja) (sono toki) Kurdish: li milê din, li alî dî Latin: interim (la)

Lithuanian: tada (lt) Norwegian: da (no) Polish: również (pl), także (pl) Portuguese: ao mesmo tempo, simultaneamente (pt); entretanto (pt) Russian: тогда (ru) (togdá) Spanish: también (es) Swedish: samtidigt (sv), å andra sidan (sv)

Adjective

then (not comparable)

1. being so at that time

Translations

being so at that time

Dutch: toenmalig (nl) Esperanto: tiama (eo) Finnish: silloinen (fi) German: damalig (de) Japanese: 当時 (ja) (touji), そのとき (ja) (sono toki), その時点 (ja) (sono jiten)

Norwegian: Bokmål: daværende (nb) Nynorsk: dåværande (nn) Swedish: dåvarande (sv)

See also

• by then
• just then
• now and then
• there and then
• until then

Noun

then (uncountable)

1. that time

   It will be finished before then.

Translations

being so at that time

Spanish: entonces (es) m. Swedish: dess (sv), då (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: ثم (θúmma) Mandarin: 然后 (ránhòu), 而后 (érhòu), 然而 (ránér) Hungarian: akkor Indonesian: maka (if-then), kemudian, lalu, setelah itu, selanjutnya, berikutnya Italian: allora Korean: 그때 (geuddae) Kurdish: hingê Spanish: entonces Turkish: o zaman

Conjunction

then

1. Obsolete spelling of than.

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: like · little · now · #78: then · A · should · can

Anagrams

• hent

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, 1989