Etymograph

English

then

Then comes from Old English þonne ‘then, at that time’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *þan ‘at that time, then’, whose deeper origin is disputed.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þan1‘at that (time), then’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þan1‘then, at that time’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þannē1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þonne1‘then, at that time’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500then(ne)1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1590then1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English then
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto VIII: “[…]his hand, more ſad [i.e., heavy, hard] then lomp…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þanWiktionary, English then‘at that (time), then’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þanWiktionary, English then‘then, at that time’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þannēWiktionary, English thenreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þonneWiktionary, English then‘then, at that time’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500then(ne)Wiktionary, English then
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1590thenWiktionary, English then. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto VIII: “[…]his hand, more ſad [i.e., heavy, hard] then lomp…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with then, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *só ‘demonstrative pronoun, that’

  • these ← þes ← þas ← *þes- ← *sa
  • soon ← sone ← sōna ← *sān(ō) ← *sēna
  • contamination ← contāminātiō ← contāminō ← *tāmen ← tam
  • sic ← sīce ← sī ← *sei
  • tandem ← tam ← *sei
  • contaminate ← contaminaten ← contaminat ← contāminātus ← contāminō
  • contaminant ← contaminer ← contaminō ← *tāmen ← tam
  • tanto ← tantus ← tam ← *sei
  • thereabouts ← there-aboutes ← þǣr ← *þār ← *þar

through Old English þonne ‘then, at that time’

6 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adv At that time.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “then”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *þan / then