▪ I. then, adv. (conj., a., n.)
(ðɛn)
Forms: see below.
[OE. þanne, þǫnne, þænne, þenne, ME. þenne, þan, þen, = OFris. thenne, thanne, than, OS. thanna, than (MDu. danne, dan, Du. dan), OHG. danne, denne (MHG. danne, denne, G. dann); cf. also Goth. þan; adverbial formations from the demonstr. root þa-: cf. that, the.
See also than conj., orig. the same word, which in both senses varied in ME. and 16th c. between then and than. So Mod.Ger. now has dann adv. ‘then’, denn conj. ‘than’. Du. has dan in both senses. The history in OTeut. presents many points of difficulty: see Per Persson in Indog. Forsch. II. 206, Van Helten in Paul & Br. Beitr. XXVIII. 564–5.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
(α) 1–3 (5) þonne.
| 898 Þonne [see B. 1]. 971 Blickl. Hom. 11 Ond þæt ᵹeweorþeþ on domes dæᵹe..Þonne forhtiaþ ealle ᵹesceafta. c 1205 Lay. 711 Þonne [c 1275 wane] men gað to bedde. [a 1425 Cursor M. 7961 (Trin.) Dauid gat ȝitt a son þonne [rime salomonne]. |
(β) 1–5 þanne, (3–4 tanne), 3–4 þane, 4 thane, 4–5 thanne.
| 871–89 Charter of ælfred in O.E. Texts 451 Þanne ᵹeselle he cc peninga eᵹhwylce ᵹere. Ibid. 452 Ðanne ann ic ðem..alles mines erfes to brucenne. c 1200 Ormin 221, & tanne comm he siþþenn ut. Ibid., Þanne [see B. 1]. c 1205 Lay. 1546 Þane [c 1275 wane] he wule..scaðe werc wrchen. a 1300 Cursor M. 153 (Cott.) Hit sal be reddynn þanne [G. þane, F. þan]. Ibid. 21618 (Edin.) Ilke paskis..Þis croce was tanne man wont to se. c 1330 Assump. Virg. 767 But þei sawe in þat stede þana Liand as it were amana [= manna]. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xii. (Mathias) 353 Þane kyste [= cast] þai cuttis til assay. c 1440 Jacob's Well (E.E.T.S.) 191 Þanne þis heued preyere doth þe no profyȝt. |
(γ) 1–3 þænne.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xcv[i]. 5 Heofonas þænne worhte haliᵹ Drihten. a 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 306 Swa fela tida beoð þænne on þam dæᵹe & on þære nihte. c 1205 Lay. 9521 Þænne beoð hit þe wurse. |
(δ) 2–5 þenne, (3 þeonne), 4 þene, 4–6 thenne, 5 þeyne, þynne, thynne, theynne.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 135 Ðenne þeȝs folkes larþew his sed wule sawen. c 1205 Lay. 12037 [They] iseȝen scipen an & an..þeonne [c 1275 þan] feowere þenne fiue. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxi. (Eugenia) 106 Þe oure-men þat þe cite gouernyt þene. c 1420 Avow. Arth. xxx, Thenne waknut the king. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 2078 Alle þey þenne for hurre gret sorwe þey made. Ibid. 2095 And sore weptone and snobbedone þeyne. Ibid. 3253 He was kyng of Englonde ȝet þynne. 1600 St. Papers Eliz., Domestic CLXXVIII. No. 78 (P.R.O.) Thenne he was at the same play. |
(ε) 2–4 þann, 3–4 þan (tan), 4–7 (dial. –9) than (5 þon); 4–5 þen, 5– then.
| c 1200 Ormin 4197 Domess daȝȝ, Þann all mannkinn shall risenn. c 1275 Lay. 6396 Morbidus þe bolde warþ þan a-bolwe. 13.. Cursor M. 367 (Gött.) Þe world..Þat ȝeit was þan [Cott. tan] of forme vnschapin. Ibid. 3860 (Cott.) Fra þan [c 1375 F. þen] wit laban duelled he. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 805 Hastily þan went þai all And soght him. a 1425 Cursor M. 6152 (Trin.) Þei were whenne þei to go bigon Six hundride þousonde fote men þon [all other MSS. bigan..þan]. c 1440 Then [see B. 4]. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1503 It falles oft þen and þen. a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. Pref. (Arb.) 17, I was glad than and do rejoice yet. 1643 Denham Cooper's H. 135 Than did Religion in a lazy Cell, In empty, aery Contemplations dwell. |
B. Signification. I. Demonstrative adverb of time.
1. a. At that time. (Referring to a specified time, past or future: opposed to now 1.)
† then as, at the time that, when (= sense 6): see as B. 27.
| Beowulf 1456 Næs þæt þonne mætost mæᵹen-fultuma þæt him on ðearfe lah ðyle hroð-gares. 898 O.E. Chron. an. 894 Swa hit þonne fierdleas wæs. c 1200 Ormin 4200 Whase þanne [at doomsday] wurrþiȝ beoþ To takenn eche blisse. a 1300 Cursor M. 14506 (Cott.) Biscops war þai þan [Trin. þo] a-bute. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 2 In Westsex was þan a kyng, his [name] was Sir Ine. 1424 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 22 That we should go with him to Liverpull, then as the said congregation and riots were ordained to be. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xi. 55 The al hool Bible was not thanne. 1582 Allen Martyrd. Campion (1908) 85 Naming one but newly cummen then into the realme. 1605 Shakes. Macb. i. vii. 49 When you durst do it, then you were a man. 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 492 Sir Walter Aston, then Leiger Ambassadour there. 1763 J. Brown Poetry & Mus. v. 67 Melody had then its greatest Power, when the Melody was most confined in its Compass. 1796 Lamb Let. to Coleridge 13 June, I hope to be able to pay you a visit (if you are then at Bristol) some time in..August. 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. xiii. 717 History, as it was then written. |
† b. Strengthened by as preceding: see as B. 34 a.
| 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 126 The autoritee of the grete officer slokis as than..the autoritee of the smallare officer. c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 375 Off that labour as than he was nocht sle. 1523–1653 [see as B. 34 a]. |
c. At the time defined by a relative or other clause (with verb in pres. tense). (Cf. now 4.)
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 468 Þan has a man les myght þan a beste When he es born. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 120 It folowis nocht na the vertu of force..is alswele in his curage than as before. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest A vij, As it is with yse which dissolueth, then when it vanisheth away. a 1644 Quarles Sol. Recant. Sol. xii. 49 Give him the firstlings of thy strength, even than When fading Childehood seeks to ripen man Vpon thy downy cheeks. 1772 Toplady Hymn, ‘Your harps, ye trembling saints’ vii, When we in darkness walk,..Then is the time to trust our God. 1908 [Miss E. Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 43 Then is the time to turn our backs upon the sun. |
d. then and there († then there), at that precise time and place; immediately and on the spot. (Also there and then: see there adv. 13.)
| 1436 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 498 Ye said William..putte hir in a stronge chaumbre till nyght; and yen yere..felonousely..ravysshed ye said Isabell. 1442 Ibid. V. 42/1 Which entre..was thenne and there graunted. 1587 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 63 It was then and there concluded by a general consent. 1600 Abp. Abbot Exp. Jonah 220 To be brought to the pits brinke, and then and there to be stayed. 1825 Scott Betrothed xxxi, The Constable De Lacy..was then and there to deliver to the Flemings a royal charter of their immunities. 1889 Jerome Three Men in Boat 212 We had insisted..that the things should be sent with us then and there. |
2. now and then, † then and then (obs.), at one time and at another, at various times, at intervals, occasionally (cf. here and there). now..then.., at one time..at another time. (See also now 6 b, 7 b.)
| c 1205 [see A. δ]. 13.. Cursor M. 1848 (Fairf.) Þai..wende ay þan and þan to droun. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xi. vii. (Bodl. MS.) lf. 108 b/2 It [rain]..comeþ doune thanne and thanne. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1467 He walde it tell' þan and þan. c 1550 R. Bieston Bayte Fortune B iij, The ryche peraduenture oppresseth nowe and than. a 1555 Philpot Exam. & Writ. (Parker Soc.) 334 If that those at any time, then and then, be deceived. 1670 Eachard Cont. Clergy 26 Now and then in an age, one miraculously, beyond all hopes, proves learned. 1763 C. Johnston Reverie II. 239 She listened to him.., asking him every now and then such questions as should [etc.]. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia s.v. Tan, Than.. loses the aspirate in one phrase only, ‘now and tan’ for ‘now and then’. 1894 Baring-Gould Deserts S. France II. 245 Restive, now sullen, then in boisterous revolt. |
II. Of sequence in time, order, consequence, incidence, inference.
3. a. At the moment immediately following the action, etc. just spoken of; upon that, thereupon, directly after that; also in wider application, indicating the action or occurrence next in order of time: next, after that, afterwards, subsequently (often in contrast to first).
Sometimes, in narrative, introducing a speech with ellipsis of said (now poet. or rhet.).
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 21 Se mon se þe gód onginneþ & þonne ablinneþ. a 1000 Phœnix 216 Bæl bið onæled þonne brond þeceð heoredreorᵹes hus. a 1225 Ancr. R. 36 Þeonne valleð adun, & siggeð, ‘Christe audi nos’, twie. 13.. Cursor M. 3904 (Cott.) Rachell bare..First ioseph, þan beniamin. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xii. 139 And þanne I kneled on my knes and kyste her wel sone. a 1400–50 Alexander 95 Þen Anec onane riȝt efter þire wordis, A lowde laȝter he loȝe. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 196 And þe bisshop sayd; ‘Nay, son, þer is none now in all þis land’..And þan þis Malchus: ‘In þis I hafe a great mervayle, ffor [etc.]’. 1526 Tindale Mark iv. 28 First the blad, then the eares, after that [R.V. 1881 then] full corne in the eares. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxxxvii. 277 He..sayd how he wolde slee Huon, & than haue Esclaramounde to his wyfe. 1627 Hakewill Apol. (1630) 214 He cast high in the aire, then received it againe in his armes. a 1654 Selden Table-T (Arb.) 49 First we Fast, and then we Feast. 1776 Trial of Nandocomar 23/1 He was at first very ill, then got better; he is now worse. 1859 Tennyson Enid 300 Then Yniol, ‘Enter therefore and partake [etc.]’. 1895 Law Times Rep. LXXIII. 21/2 The annuity was regularly paid up to 1878, then Mr. Harle got into difficulties. |
b. In the next place, next (in a series of any kind, or esp. in order of narration); beyond that, more than that, in addition, besides. Phr. and then some: see some indef. pron. 4 f.
| c 1290 St. Michael 511 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 314 Þat fuyr is hext,..þe eir is þanne next bi-neothe. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 64 Viue & þritti ssiren..Barcssire, & hamptessire, & þanne middelsex. 1588 Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China iii. xxvi. 406 Then forwards on there are other two small kingdoms. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 358 First,..my house within the City Is richly furnished..then at my farme I haue a hundred milch-kine. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 32 Then, it is added next, concerning the West-border [etc.]. 1707 Farquhar Beaux Strat. i. i, Aim[well]... What other company have you in Town? Bon[iface]. A power of fine Ladies; and then we have the French Officers. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth vi, Then there are the minstrels, with their romaunts and ballads. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre xvi, And then she had such a fine head of hair. |
4. a. In that case; in those circumstances; if that be (or were) the fact; if so; when that happens. Often correl. to if or when. what then? (ellipt.) what happens (or would happen) in that case? what of that?
| 695–6 Laws of Wihtræd c. 26 ᵹif man friᵹne man..ᵹefo, þanne wealde se cyning ðreora anes [etc.]. 971 Blickl. Hom. 41 ᵹif ᵹe þonne ᵹelyfaþ..þonne biþ hit eow nyt ᵹeseald. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 137 Ðenne bið þes monnes wile ibeht mid þere elmisse. c 1205 Lay. 9521 Þænne beoð hit þe wurse. a 1250 Owl & Night. 508 (Cott.) Wane þi lust is ago, Þanne is þi song ago also. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 536 (585) Be ȝe wys as ȝe ben fayr to se, Wel in þe ringe than is the ruby set. c 1440 York Myst. iv. 69 An ye do, then shall ye dye. 1533 Gau Richt Vay (S.T.S.) 32 For quhy if he is owr fader thane ar we his barnis and aris. 1564 Brief Exam. ****ij, What then? Did he not appoynt temperall rites? 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 380 O had they in that darkesome prison died, Then had they seene the period of their ill. a 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. i. iii. 86 Then he could never have ridden out an eternal period. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia v. ix, Suppose you..had never a farthing but of your own getting; where would you be then? 1826 Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 203 The screw is sometimes made of wood, and then it is mostly nine or ten inches diameter. 1925 L. Abercrombie Idea of Great Poetry i. 8 We have busied ourselves, it not on our own account, then vicariously in the newspapers, with the appreciation of these poets in their several qualities. 1956 A. J. Ayer Probl. Knowledge i. 7 Can it reasonably be held that knowledge is always knowledge that something is the case? If knowing that something is the case is taken to involve the making of a conscious judgment, then plainly it cannot. 1972 M. Kline Math. Thought li. 1194 This is the principle of reductio ad absurdum. In words, if the assumption of p implies that p is false, then p is false. |
b. but then..: but, that being so; but at the same time; but on the other hand, but: introducing a statement (rarely a phrase) in some way contrasted with or limiting the preceding.
| 1445 in Anglia XXVIII. 279 But than thi soule..right benygne to othir, A Juge grevous for shamefastnes is felt vnto thi selfe. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado v. i. 205 He is then a Giant to an Ape, but then is an Ape a Doctor to such a man. 1672 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal iii. i, It is not very necessary to the Plot..But then it's as full of Drollery as ever it can hold. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 286 The Fishing Frog..very much resembles a tadpole or young frog, but then a tadpole of enormous size. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey i. iv, There was..some difficulty in keeping all things in order, but then Vivian Grey was such an excellent manager! 1887 Birrell Obiter Dicta Ser. ii. Pope Ess. 1899 I. 182 Pope knew next to no Greek, but then he did not work upon the Greek text. |
c. or then = or, if not, then..; or failing that; or else, or otherwise; or even. Sc.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 217 Gud Knychtis..For litill enchesoune or than nane, Thai hangyt be the nekbane. 1513 Douglas æneis i. vi. 43 Quhiddir thou be Dyane,..Or than sum goddes of the nymphis kynd. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 7 Verie conuenient to feid horse or nout, or flockis of scheip or gait, or than grett harte and hyne. 1634 Rutherford Lett. (1881) 500 Pray Him to tarry, or then to take us with Him. 1636 Ibid. 320 They are..valuing Him at their unworthy halfpenny or else exchanging and bartering Christ with the miserable old fallen house of this vain world, or then they lend Him out upon interest. 1825 Jamieson s.v., Come hame sune, or than I'll be angry. |
5. (As a particle of inference, often unemphatic or enclitic.) That being the case; since that is so; on that account; therefore, consequently, as may be inferred; so. now then: see now 9 b.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 39 Us is þonne mycel nedþearf þæt we ᵹebuᵹon to him. c 1230 Hali Meid. 5 Nis ha þenne sariliche..akast & in to þewdom idrahen. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2491 Sire graunte me þanne..As moche place as mid a þuong ich may aboute tille. 13.. Cursor M. 5987 (Gött.) Wend on þann, siþen ȝe wil ga. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 4 It is certayn þan, þowe he be his seruaunt. ? a 1500 Wycket (1828) p. v, Why shoulde it then be taken awaye frome us. 1539 Bible (Great) 2 Sam. iii. 18 Now then do it. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 35 Fal. Good-morrow, good-wife. Qui. Not so, and't please your worship. Fal. Good maid then. 1600 ― A.Y.L. iv. iii. 176 Well then, take a good heart, and counterfeit to be a man. 1668 Milton P.L. The Verse, This neglect then of Rime so little is to be taken for a defect..that [etc.]. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. v. ii, Hast. This is a riddle. Tony. Riddle me this then. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xx, ‘Ha!’ said the Countess, hastily; ‘that rumour then is true, Janet’. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 86 We give up our cruise, then, after all? |
III. As rel. or conjunctive adv. of time.
† 6. At the time that; when. Obs.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 17 Þonne se mona wanað, þonne tacnað he ure deaþlicnesse. c 1000 ælfric Colloq. in Wr.-Wülcker 102/13 Swyþe waxᵹeorn eart þu, þonne [L. cum] þu ealle þingc etst. 1056–66 Inscr. Kirkdale Ch., Yorks., Orm..bohte scs Gregorivs minster ðonne hit wes æl tobrocan & tofalan. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 35 Ne beo he nefre swa riche, forð he scal þenne is dei cumeð. c 1200 Ormin 8401 He wass, þanne he þiderr for, Neh off an ȝeress elde. a 1250 Owl & Night. 420 (Cott.) Þu forbernest welneȝ for onde Þane ure blisse cumeþ to londe. c 1300 Harrow. Hell (MS. E.) 37 Þan ihesu hadde spilt his blod For our sinnes on þe rode, He nam him þe riȝt way Vnto helle. c 1425 Eng. Conq. Irel. 4 Than hir lord hit herde, he was ther-of tened swith stronge. a 1440 Sir Eglam. 286 Then hys howndys began to baye, That harde [= heard] the jean there he laye. |
IV. As n. or a.
7. a. Preceded by a preposition, as by, since, till, etc. (= by, etc. that time). (Cf. now 13.)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10953 (Cott.) Als he forwit [Gött. bifore] þan was wont. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4647 Fra þan Til þe day of dome. a 1400 R. Glouc.'s Chron. (Rolls) App. G. 258 King belin after þan to þis lond gan wende. c 1430 Chev. Assigne 143 By þenne was þe hermyte go in-to þe wode. 1509 Bp. Fisher Funeral Serm. C'tess of Richmond Wks. (E.E.T.S.) I. 294 The matynes of our lady, which kepte her to then. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 93 Till then who knew The force of those dire Arms? 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xlii, All the time between then and now seems as nothing. 1884 Punch 26 Apr. 197/2, I used your Soap Two Years ago; since then I have used no other. 1905 Daily News 5 Jan. 6 The little man..had by then recovered himself. |
b. by then that, by the time that; ellipt. by then (as relative), by the time: see by A. 21 c. Now arch. or dial.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 99 By than that endyd was the fight, The fals were feld. 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. x. 49 By than they were redy on horsbak, there were vij C knyghtes. c 1500 Robin Hood 1737 By than the yere was all agone, He had no man but twayne. 1634 Milton Comus 540 This evening late by then the chewing flocks Had ta'n their supper on the savoury Herb..I sate me down. 1788 T. Taylor Proclus' Comm. (1792) I. 12 By then he was twenty-eight years of age he composed a multitude of works. 1863 Reade Hard Cash I. v. 157 By then he had folded and addressed it, she returned. 1906 Graphic 29 Dec. 892/1 By then ye've been church-cried, I'll be in t' chimney corner like any proper old gaffer. |
8. That time; the time referred to (esp. a past time): often contrasted with now. Cf. now 14, 15.
| 1549–50 Paget Let. 22 Feb. in Strype Eccl. Mem. II. App. II, The tyme is tourned: then was then, and now is now. 1601 Shakes. All's Well iii. ii. 62 When thou canst get the Ring vpon my finger, which neuer shall come off,..then call me husband: but in such a (then) I write a Neuer. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 161 God could bring forth the world at that then, wherein or when he had cast with himself the world could afterwards be made. 1847 W. Thom in Whistlebinkie (1890) II. 234 Companion of my happy then! 1901 Daily News 19 Mar. 6/3 He reveals a corresponding contrast between the then and the now. |
9. a. In sense 1, followed by a participle or adjective forming an adj. phrase, as the then existing system = the system then existing. (See also 10 a.)
| 1653 Baxter Saints' R. ii. vi. §2 (ed. 4) 257 That the extirpation of Piety was the then great design. 1827 Scott Highl. Widow ii, The then unwonted circumstance..of a passenger being seen on the high-road. 1870 Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. i. (1873) 6 The trivium..and the quadrivium..of the then ordinary university course. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. (1889) I. xlvi. 548 The then existing Constitution. |
b. attrib. or as adj. That existed or was so at that time; the then ruler = the ruler that then was. (Cf. now 16.)
| 1584 ? Sidney Earl of Leicester Misc. Wks. (1829) 263 He saith they are no gentlemen, affirming, that the then duke of Northumberland was not born so. 1620 E. Blount Horæ Subs. 367 To the then Bishop of Rome. a 1647 Pette in Archæologia XII. 255 The most noble prince, my then master. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. ii. 157 A bill..was countenanced by the then ministry, for limiting the number of the peerage. 1876 L. Stephen Hist. Eng. Th. 18th C. I. 203 In the then state of critical enquiry. |
V. 10. Comb. a. adv., with pples. or adjs., as then-current, then-instant, then-known, then-ruling, then-united (cf. 9 a); b. attrib.: then-clause, the apodosis in a conditional sentence; † then-skill, a reason belonging to the particular time or occasion (cf. skill n. 3): for a then-skill, for the occasion; then-time, the time that was then, the past time referred to.
| 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. Epit., The said Edmund (whom the Duke's faction for a then-Skill surnamed Crook backe). 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. iii. Law 198 While the then-Time's hideous face and form Boads them (alas!) nothing but wrack and storm. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. viii. (1626) 165 Whose waues..That then-vnited masse of earth dis-ioyne. a 1656 Bp. Hall Rev. Unrevealed §11 The expectation of the then-instant appearing of Christ. 1750 S. Richardson Let. 4 June (1964) 161 From robbery to robbery they proceeded, till they had enlarged their den so as to take in the greatest part of the then-known world. 1848 C. C. Clifford Aristoph., Frogs 40 Without the leave Of the then-ruling powers. 1905 G. B. Shaw Let. 28 Sept. (1972) II. 563 She subscribed to the philosophy of a then-current song, ‘I Want What I Want When I Want It’. 1927 G. A. Grierson Ling. Survey India I. i. 376 If the conditional sentence is such a one as we would require the use of ‘would’ or ‘would have’ in English, the word sik is appended to the apodosis, or then-clause. 1962 John o' London's 22 Feb. 188/3 Would is often used to express a wish..as in..the then-clause of a conditional sentence, as in ‘You would enjoy it if you went’. 1976 Scotsman 24 Dec. (Weekend Suppl.) 3/2 The military republic of Julius Caesar that ruled the then-known world. 1978 Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. c 24/5 (Advt.), The interest..will be recalculated..at the then-current regular passbook interest rate. |
Hence then v. (nonce-wd.), in phr. to now it and then it: see now.
▪ II. then
obs. f. than; obs. inflexion of that, the.
▪ III. then
variant of thenne Obs., thence.