then

then
[[t]ðe̱n[/t]]
♦
1) ADV: ADV with cl, oft prep ADV Then means at a particular time in the past or in the future.

He wanted to have a source of income after his retirement; until then, he wouldn't require additional money...

She eventually decided to go professional. Since then she's had considerable success across the Atlantic as well as one hit single...

I spent years on the dole trying to get bands together and I never worried about money then.

Ant:
2) ADJ: ADJ n Then is used when you refer to something which was true at a particular time in the past but is not true now.

...the Race Relations Act of 1976 (enacted by the then Labour Government)...

He was known by many for his role in the then record-breaking robbery of the mail train from Glasgow to London in August 1963.

ADV: ADV group
Then is also an adverb.

Richard Strauss, then 76 years old, suffered through the war years in silence... Roberts was then a newly married man.

3) ADV: ADV cl/group, ADV before v You use then to say that one thing happens after another, or is after another on a list.

Add the oil and then the scallops to the pan, leaving a little space for the garlic...

I felt myself blush. Then I sniffed back a tear...

New mothers have been observed to touch the feet and hands first, then the body, and then the baby's face.

4) ADV: cl/group ADV You use then in conversation to indicate that what you are about to say follows logically in some way from what has just been said or implied.

`I wasn't a very good scholar at school.' - `What did you like doing best then?'...

You're not gonna tell me, are you? Do I have to guess, then?...

`I got a load of money out of them.' - `So you're okay, then.'

5) ADV: cl/group ADV You use then at the end of a topic or at the end of a conversation.

`I can meet you after work. Six o'clock?' - `Fine.' - `Six o'clock, then?'...

`I'll talk to you on Friday anyway.' - `Yep. Okay then.'...

He stood up. `That's settled then.'

6) ADV: adv ADV You use then with words like `now', `well', and `okay', to introduce a new topic or a new point of view.

Now then, I think the Queen should be taxed...

Well then, I'll put the kettle on and make us some tea...

Okay then let me ask how you do that.

7) ADV: ADV with cl You use then to introduce a summary of what you have said or the conclusions that you are drawing from it. [WRITTEN]

This, then, was the music that appeared to dominate the world of serious concert music in the mid-1960s...

By 1931, then, France alone in Europe was a country of massive immigration.

Syn:
8) ADV: ADV cl You use then to introduce the second part of a sentence which begins with `if'. The first part of the sentence describes a possible situation, and then introduces the result of the situation.

If the answer is `yes', then we must decide on an appropriate course of action...

9) ADV: ADV cl You use then at the beginning of a sentence or after `and' or `but' to introduce a comment or an extra piece of information to what you have already said.

We have to do quite a bit of reading, and then we have our ongoing work which would be an essay...

He sounded sincere, but then, he always did.

10) now and then → see now
there and then → see there

English dictionary. 2008.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • then — [ ðen ] function word *** Then can be used in the following ways: as an adverb: I was still at school then. as an adjective (only before a noun): the then prime minister, Harold Wilson 1. ) at that time a ) at a particular time in the past or in… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • then — [then] adv. [ME: see THAN] 1. at that time [he was young then] 2. soon afterward; next in time [he took his hat and then left] 3. next in order [first comes alpha and then beta] 4. in that case; therefore; accordingly: used with conjunctive f …   English World dictionary

  • Then — ([th][e^]n), adv. [Originally the same word as than. See {Than}.] 1. At that time (referring to a time specified, either past or future). [1913 Webster] And the Canaanite was then in the land. Gen. xii. 6. [1913 Webster] Now I know in part; but… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Then — Then, conj. 1. Than. [Obs.] Spenser. [1913 Webster] 2. In that case; in consequence; as a consequence; therefore; for this reason. [1913 Webster] If all this be so, then man has a natural freedom. Locke. [1913 Webster] Now, then, be all thy… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • then — Use of then as an adjective as in the then President, to mean ‘at that time’, has been continuous since the 16c and is acceptable despite occasional objections to it. Less acceptable, however, is the type with an adjective following then,… …   Modern English usage

  • Then — is a common adverb in English, indicating the apodosis of a conditional sentence. It is never equivalent to or synonymous with the conjunction than (although in a small number of accents the two may be considered homophones) nor the adjective… …   Wikipedia

  • then — adverb of time, from O.E. þanne, þænne, þonne, from P.Gmc. *thana (Cf. O.Fris. thenne, O.S. thanna, Du. dan, O.H.G. danne, Ger. dann), from PIE demonstrative pronoun root *to (see THE (Cf. the)). For further sense development, see …   Etymology dictionary

  • then — ► ADVERB 1) at that time. 2) after that; next. 3) also. 4) therefore. ● but then (again) Cf. ↑but then again ● then and there Cf. ↑ …   English terms dictionary

  • then — [adv1] before; at another time again, all at once, anon, at that instant, at that moment, at that point, at that time, before long, formerly, later, next, on that occasion, soon after, suddenly, thereupon, when, years ago; concept 799 then [adv2] …   New thesaurus

  • then — index late (defunct) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • Then- — [vermutlich Kurzw. aus Thiophen ]: Trivialstamm in Bez. von Verb., die sich von 2 Methylthiophen ableiten, z. B. Thenoesäure, Thenyl …   Universal-Lexikon

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