I. thən, then, (|)than, rapid sometimes ən or ə n ( after t, d, s, or z) or n ( as in one pronunciation, ˌbed.ə(r)ˈnəthə(r)z, of “better than others”) conjunction
Etymology: Middle English thanne, than, thenne, then, from Old English thanne, thonne, thænne; akin to Old Frisian than, Old Saxon thanna, thanne, than, Old High German thanne, thanna, denne; all from a prehistoric West Germanic conjunction derived from an adverb represented by Old English thanne, thonne, thænne then — more at then
1.
a. — used as a function word to indicate that what immediately follows is the second member or the member taken as point of departure in a comparison expressive of inequality; used with comparative adjectives and comparative adverbs
he is older than I
deer can run faster than cows
easier said than done
arrived earlier than usual
paid more than necessary
knows better than to start a quarrel
I regard him more highly than to suspect him
has more than doubled his output
he deceived us worse than if he had told us an outright lie
he resolved, rather than yield, to die with honor — Samuel Butler †1680
lemurs … are nearly related to the true monkeys, than which they are a more primitive type — James Stevenson-Hamilton
b. — used as a function word to indicate difference of kind, manner, or identity; used with some adjectives and adverbs that express diversity and with some words derived from them
other woe than ours — John Keats
anywhere else than at home
he could hardly have behaved otherwise than he did
others than the four who hold the … center of his stage — Carl Van Doren
the task of education is not different for gifted children than for others — Elise Martens
— sometimes considered substandard except with other, else, and their derivatives, though use with different and differently is of long standing and found in many reputable authors; compare different I 1
2. : rather than — usually used only after prefer, preferable, and preferably, and sometimes considered substandard even there
I preferred to be called a coward than fight — John Reed
3. : other than
we have no alternative than to follow the sense of our own experience — K.L.Patton
4. : when
had barely left the lift at the bottom than the lift bell started to ring — David Masters
— used especially after scarcely and hardly
hardly had the birds dropped than she jumped into the water and retrieved them — G.G.Carter
II. preposition
: in comparison with : by way of superiority or inferiority to — used by speakers on all educational levels and by many reputable writers with the objective case form of the following pronoun when the first term in the comparison is the subject of a verb or the predicative complement after a copulative verb though disapproved by some grammarians except in the phrase than whom
they were both somewhat taller than her — Anthony Trollope
man, than whom nothing could be more miserable — Jeremy Taylor