from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Now \Now\ (nou), adv. [OE. nou, nu, AS. n[=u], nu; akin to D.,
OS., & OHG. nu, G. nu, nun, Icel., n[=u], Dan., Sw., & Goth.
nu, L. nunc, Gr. ny`, ny^n, Skr. nu, n[=u]. [root]193. Cf.
{New}.]
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1. At the present time; at this moment; at the time of
speaking; instantly; as, I will write now.
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I have a patient now living, at an advanced age, who
discharged blood from his lungs thirty years ago.
--Arbuthnot.
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2. Very lately; not long ago.
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They that but now, for honor and for plate,
Made the sea blush with blood, resign their hate.
--Waller.
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3. At a time contemporaneous with something spoken of or
contemplated; at a particular time referred to.
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The ship was now in the midst of the sea. --Matt.
xiv. 24.
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4. In present circumstances; things being as they are; --
hence, used as a connective particle, to introduce an
inference or an explanation.
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How shall any man distinguish now betwixt a parasite
and a man of honor? --L'Estrange.
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Why should he live, now nature bankrupt is? --Shak.
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Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but
Barabbas. Now, Barabbas was a robber. --John xviii.
40.
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The other great and undoing mischief which befalls
men is, by their being misrepresented. Now, by
calling evil good, a man is misrepresented to others
in the way of slander. --South.
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{Now and again}, now and then; occasionally.
{Now and now}, again and again; repeatedly. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
{Now and then}, at one time and another; indefinitely;
occasionally; not often; at intervals. "A mead here, there
a heath, and now and then a wood." --Drayton.
{Now now}, at this very instant; precisely now. [Obs.] "Why,
even now now, at holding up of this finger, and before the
turning down of this." --J. Webster (1607).
{Now . . . now}, alternately; at one time . . . at another
time. "Now high, now low, now master up, now miss."
--Pope.
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from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Then \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).
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And the Canaanite was then in the land. --Gen. xii.
6.
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Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as
also I am known. --1 Cor. xiii.
12.
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2. Soon afterward, or immediately; next; afterward.
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First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come
and offer thy gift. --Matt. v. 24.
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3. At another time; later; again.
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One while the master is not aware of what is done,
and then in other cases it may fall out to be own
act. --L'Estrange.
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{By then}.
(a) By that time.
(b) By the time that. [Obs.]
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But that opinion, I trust, by then this
following argument hath been well read, will be
left for one of the mysteries of an indulgent
Antichrist. --Milton.
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{Now and then}. See under {Now}, adv.
{Till then}, until that time; until the time mentioned.
--Milton.
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Note: Then is often used elliptically, like an adjective, for
then existing; as, the then administration.
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