Than (plural Thans)
A surname.
• According to the 2010 United States Census, Than is the 14930th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 1983 individuals. Than is most common among Asian/Pacific Islander (93.9%) individuals.
• -anth, Hnat, Nath, ha'n't, ha'nt, han't, hant
than
(obsolete, outside, dialects, usually used with for) Because; for.
Used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison.
than
introduces a comparison, and is associated with comparatives, and with words such as more, less, and fewer. Typically, it seeks to measure the force of an adjective or similar description between two predicates.
Usage prescriptivists have a number of rules concerning than. In formal grammar, than is not a preposition to govern the oblique case (although it has been used as such by writers such as William Shakespeare, whose 1600 play Julius Caesar contains the line A man no mightier than thyself or me. . ., and Samuel Johnson, who wrote No man had ever more discernment than him, in finding out the ridiculous.). Than functions as both conjunction and preposition; when it is used as a conjunction, it governs the nominative case, and when a preposition, the oblique case. To determine the case of a pronoun following "than", a writer can look to implied words and determine how they would relate to the pronoun.
Examples
• You are a better swimmer than she.
represents You are a better swimmer than she is.
therefore You are a better swimmer than her is, according to such prescriptivists, a solecism.
• They like you more than her.
represents They like you more than they like her.
therefore They like you more than she is a solecism, if it attempts to represent the previous sentence. It may be correct, however, if it represents They like you more than she likes you.
Some prescriptivists insist that whom must follow than (not who); although according to the above rule, who would be the "correct" form. Critics of this often cite this mandatory exception as evidence that the prescriptivist rule is logically erroneous, in addition to its being inconsistent with well-established usage.
than (not comparable)
(now, chiefly, dialectal or a misspelling) At that time; then.
• -anth, Hnat, Nath, ha'n't, ha'nt, han't, hant
Source: Wiktionary
Than, conj. Etym: [OE. than, thon, then, thanne, thonne, thenne, than, then, AS. thanne, thonne, th\'91nne; akin to D. dan, OHG. danne, G. dann then, denn than, for, Goth. Ăžan then, and to E. the, there, that. See That, and cf. Then.]
Definition: 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.
Than, adv.
Definition: Then. See Then. [Obs.] Gower. Thanne longen folk to gon on pilgrimages. Chaucer.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
27 January 2025
(adjective) capable of being split or cleft or divided in the direction of the grain; “fissile crystals”; “fissile wood”
International Coffee Day (September 29) is an occasion to promote and celebrate coffee as a beverage, with events occurring in places across the world. A day to promote fair trade coffee and raise awareness for the coffee growers’ plight. Other countries celebrate this event on October 1.
