The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
THAN
Definition of THAN
conjunction
Used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English than, thanne (“than; then”), from Old English þanne, a variant of þonne (“then; when; than”), from Proto-West Germanic *þannē, an alteration of *þan (“then; than”), from Proto-Germanic *þan (“then; than”), from earlier *þam, from Proto-Indo-European *tóm, accusative masculine of *só (“that”, demonstrative pronoun). Cognate with Dutch dan (“then; than”), German denn (“for; so”), German dann (“then”). Doublet of then.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.4%
of traced words share this origin (11,166)
How it is built
Its etymology also names Dutch.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
THAN in OUTLIER
It has fitted 12 boards so far. 22 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 18, 7 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 154, 21 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 1 day.
First found by a player on Day 8, 29 May 2026.
Built from these letters
THAN starts with T and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read AHNT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
2 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start THAN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 18
Could you have found THAN?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 18 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER