then
Part of speech: adv
adj
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: temporal-location
time
Etymology: From Middle English then(ne), than(ne), from Old English þonne, þanne, þænne (“then, at that time”), from Proto-West Germanic *þan, 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”), Swedish då (“then”), Icelandic þá (“then”). Doublet of than.
Inflected forms:
form: den
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: den
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: den
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: At that time.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: He was happy then.
And the Canaanite was then in the land.
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.
The country was shaken by the then-recent assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, which happened against the background of profound racial tensions, stark economic inequality and growing opposition to the Vietnam War.
gloss: Soon afterward.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: He fixed it, then left.
Turn left, then right, then right again, then keep going until you reach the service station.
And then came an invitation to tonight's ball.
First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
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.
gloss: Next in order of place.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
sequence
examples: There are three green ones, then a blue one.
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.
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.
gloss: In addition; also; besides.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: 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 […]
gloss: In that case.
pos: adv
tags: conjunctive
not-comparable
examples: 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?
And, as the Cock crew, those who stood before
The Tavern shouted — "Open then the Door!
You know how little while we have to stay,
And, once departed, may return no more."
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: […]
gloss: At the same time; on the other hand.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
sequence
examples: That’s a nice shirt, but then, so is the other one.
The forms inheritress and inheritrix are used only in literature, and then but rarely.
gloss: Used to contradict an assertion.
pos: adv
tags: UK
dialectal
not-comparable
examples: ‘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.
gloss: Being so at that time.
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
examples: 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.
It all started when Nick Farmer bought George R. R. Martin a drink, but the plot really thickened when the linguist met Martin’s then-assistant Ty Franck.
It’s been nearly four years since China put tariffs on American-grown soybeans during a tit-for-tat trade war with then-President Donald Trump – and they remain in place despite the change in administrations.
Four years ago, 57 million tuned in to the only vice presidential debate of the 2020 election cycle between Harris and then-Vice President Mike Pence.
gloss: That time.
pos: noun
examples: It will be finished before then.
Synonyms: and then
followed by
as a result
therewhile
ensuingly
followingly
hereafter
syne
then
Antonyms: before
previously
prior to
Translations: