| 释义 |
▪ I. that, dem. pron., a., and adv.|ðæt|
Forms: see below.
[In OE. þæt, nom. and acc. singular neuter of the simple demonstrative pronoun and adjective se, séo, þæt, the adjectival use of which has also produced the ‘definite article’ the, under which the history and obs. inflexional forms are given. The is the resultant form, used for all genders, numbers, and cases of the article; that the unweakened neuter singular, used as demonstrative pronoun and adj. for all cases of the singular. The original plural in both uses was þá, in ME. þā and tho, q.v., surviving in Sc. and north. dial. as thae, but superseded in literary English by those.
The demonstrative was also used in OE. as a relative pronoun, for which see below.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
1. In OE. inflected for gender, number, and case: see the inflexional forms under the. Some of the inflexions remained in early ME., and in some dialects even to 1400. A few examples of these, in which the sense is demonstrative, follow here. For the plural forms see tho and those.
(The masc. and fem. pronouns se, séo, and 14th c. Kentish ze, zy, were often equivalent to ‘he’, ‘she’, and ‘it’.)
Beowulf (Z.) 470 Se wæs betera ðonne ic. Ibid. 506 Eart ðu se Beowulf se ðe wið Brecan wunne? c825Vesp. Ps. vii. 16 Seað [he] ontynde & dalf ðone [= eum]. Ibid. cxlv. 4 In ðæm [= illa] deᵹe. a855O.E. Chron. an. 597, Her ongon Ceolwulf ricsian..Se wæs Cuþaing, Cuþa Cynricing [etc.]. c893K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §9 Seo ægyptus þe us near is. Ibid. ii. iv. §8 Seo ilce burᵹ Babylonia, seo ðe mæst wæs & ærest ealra burᵹa. Ibid. v. ix, Ic..secgan scyle,..hwa þæs [= of that] ordfruman wæron. a900tr. Bæda's Hist. ii. vii. (1890) 118 Þæm [Mellitus] sona æfterfylᵹde Iustus in biscophade. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. x. 23 Ðonne hi eow ehtaþ on þysse byriᵹ, fleoþ on oþre, and ðonne hi on þære [Hatton G. þare] eow ehtaþ, fleoþ on þa þryddan. Ibid. John iii. 29 Se ðe bryde hæfð, se is brydguma. a1175Cott. Hom. 235 Si [the Law of Moses] ȝeleste sume wile. c1175Lamb. Hom. 37 Do þine elmesse of þon þet þu maht iforðien. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 221 Se þer her doð ani god. c1200Ormin 17621 To þann comm icc off heffne dun. c1250Owl & Night. 882 Þat beoþ her wo is hom þes. c1300Harrow. Hell (MS. O.) 65 Þou miȝt wel witen þe bi þon [MS. E. 79 for þan] Þat ich [am] more þen ani mon. 1340Ayenb. 102 Zy þet ne serueþ bote to onlepy manne. Ibid. 117 Ze þet ne heþ þise uondinges.
2. Forms of the singular neuter, and, at length, general uninflected form that.
1–3 ðæt, þæt, ðet, 1–4 þet, (3 ðat, þut), 3–6 þat, (3–5 þatt, 4 þate, 5 þatte, 5–6 thate, 6–7 thatt), 4– that. (Also written 4–6 yat, 4–8 yt, yt.)
Beowulf (Z.) 1372 Nis þæt heoru stow. 835Charter of Abba (Kentish) in O.E. Texts 448 ᵹif hiᵹan ðonne oððe hlaford þæt nylle..ᵹeunnan. c836O.E. Chron. an. 787, Þæt wæron þa ærestan scipu Deniscra monna þe Angel cynnes lond ᵹesohton. c1134Ibid. (Laud. MS.) an. 1127, Þet wes eall ðurh þone kyng Heanri of Engle land. c1175Lamb. Hom. 33 On cristes prisune..þet is in helle. c1200Þatt [see B. II. 1]. c1205Lay. 4542 Þet is þere quene scip. c1250Gen. & Ex. 59 Ðat was ðe firme morȝen tid..Wid ðat liȝt worn angles wroȝt. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6773 He was glad of þut cas. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1926 Englysche holden þate heritage. c1400Þat [see B. II. 5]. c1420Chron. Vilod. 840 He sayde he mervaylede muche of þatte. c1460Towneley Myst. i. 40 That at is dry the erth shalle be. 1533Bellenden Livy ii. i. (S.T.S.) I. 132 Tak away þat odious name tarquyne fra þe pepill. 1583T. Watson Poems (Arb.) 45 But I (alas) might curse yat dismall day. 1638Hamilton Papers (Camden) 45, I had lytill hoope of uoorking of thatt by treatie.
B. Signification and uses.
The pronominal use goes back to the earliest OE. The adjectival demonstrative use in OE. corresponded to that of L. is, ea, id, or the unqualified French ce, cette, and is often indistinguishable from that of the modern definite article. But by 1200 the adjectival use of that began also to be more definitely demonstrative (= L. iste, ille, F. ce{ddd}là), and to be implicitly or explicitly opposed to this (= L. hic, F. ce{ddd}ci). As this appears first in Ormin, it may have been due to the influence of Norse, in which the adjectival use of þat as a demonstrative, opposed to þetta ‘this’, is of earlier appearance. I. Demonstrative Pronoun. Pl. † tho (obs.), those, q.v.
* As simple dem. pron.
1. Denoting a thing or person pointed out or present, or that has just been mentioned: cf. II. 1.
a. a thing (concrete or abstract).
Often serving instead of repetition of the name of the thing, and directing the attention back to it (thus more emphatic than it). Also, for emphasis, used pleonastically in apposition to the n.; also, in mod. use, as in quot. 1880, placed (as subj.) after the predicate n., with ellipsis of the copula. In quot. 1905, applied to a person contemptuously spoken of as a thing or creature.
Beowulf (Z.) 2200 Eft þæt ᵹe-iode ufaran dogrum, hildehlæm-mum. c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiii. §5 Þæt eart ðu. c897― Gregory's Past. C. i. 28 Soðlice ða eaᵹan þæt bioð ða lareowas, & se hrycg þæt sint ða hiremenn. c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 346 Haran cyslyb ᵹeseald on wines drince, þæt wel ᵹehæleþ. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 12560 Pryue synne and sacrylage, That loue y moste. 13..in Hampole's Wks. (1896) I. 108 Luk nogth efter ylke a mans wile to do it, bot luk whilke es myne & do þat. 1451J. Capgrave St. Augustine 36 But þe principal cause whech Augustin supposed to spede, þat failed. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 14 And with that I sall put sik thing langand warldly understanding. 1579W. Fulke Heskins' Parl. 74 The errour of Vibicus. And that was this. 1665Boyle Occas. Medit. iv. v, To serve him that can give That, and much greater. 1709Lond. Gaz. No. 4599/4 It had a black Ribbon tied to it, and the Key of the Watch fastened to that. 1808E. Sleath Bristol Heiress I. 63 Rank, high life, fashionable amusement—that's the go. 1842Browning Pied Piper iv, ‘Bless us’, cried the Mayor, ‘what's that?’ 1878T. Hardy Ret. Native vi. iv, ‘What noise was that?’ said Clym. 1880Tennyson Sisters 14 A sweet voice that—you scarce could better that. 1905E. Glyn Viciss. Evangeline 127 ‘Would you like to marry Malcolm?’ I asked. ‘Fancy being owned by that! Fancy seeing it every day!’
b. a person. Now noting a person actually pointed out (not one just mentioned, exc. in emphatic pleonastic use as in a). Chiefly as subject of the verb to be in stating or asking who or what that (person) is. (See also 6 c.)
Colloquially used in expressions of commendation, or in mod. use of anticipatory commendation by way of persuasion or encouragement (esp. to a child). Cf. there adv. 3 b.
Beowulf (Z.) 11 Þæt wæs god cyning. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3044 Ȝif þer is Eny mon so wis Þat beste red conne rede, merlin þat is. a1300Cursor M. 18131 Þat king o blis, quat es he, þat? 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2463 Ho wayned me vpon þis wyse..Þat is ho þat is at home, þe auncian lady. 1470–85Malory Arthur i. xxv. 73 What damoysel is that?.. That is the lady of the lake. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iii. 47 That's my good Son. 1601― All's Well iii. v. 81 Hel. Which is the Frenchman? Dia. Hee, That with the plume. 1606― Tr. & Cr. iv. ii. 36 Who's that at doore? 1610― Temp. i. ii. 299 After two daies I will discharge thee. Ar. That's my noble Master. 1652J. Wright tr. Camus' Nat. Paradox ix. 215 By my Soul if that bee a Lady, my Husband may bee a Lady too. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. vii, ‘Very well’, cried I, ‘that's a good girl’. 1841Browning Pippa Passes iii. 276 Why, there! Is not that Pippa..under the window? 1849T. Arnold Let. 10 Aug. (1966) 128 Do you, my dear K, have them sent to me, that's a darling. 1854Thackeray Rose & Ring viii, ‘Who's that laughing?’ It was Giglio laughing. a1912Mod. Come along, that's a good boy! That's the man for me! 1936[see boy n.1 2 c]. 1956M. Dickens Angel in Corner x. 198 ‘Good girl.’ He lay back on the pillow. ‘That's my girl,’ he murmured. 1964J. P. Clark Three Plays 32 Zifa: He must not see my tears. Orukorere: That's my boy. The strong weep only at dead of night. 1973W. H. Canaway Harry doing Good ii. ii. 139 ‘Never mind, then,’ he said, and kissed her cheek. ‘That's my girl.’
c. a fact, act, or occurrence, or a statement or question, implied or contained in the previous sentence: often used instead of repeating a clause or phrase (cf. a).
In OE. and in Sc. often referring to a following statement, where mod.Eng. commonly uses this. Cf. II. 1, and this B. I. 1 d.
a855O.E. Chron. an. 755, Ða on morᵹenne ᵹehierdun þæt þæs cyninges þeᵹnas..þæt se cyning ofslæᵹen wæs. a900Cynewulf Elene 1168 (Gr.) Þæt is ᵹedafenlic, þæt þu dryhtnes word On hyᵹe healde. c1000Ags. Gosp. John i. 19 Þæt is Iohannes ᵹewitnes. a1131O.E. Chron. an. 1122, On þone lenten tyde þær toforen for bearn se burch on Gleawe ceastre... Þet wes þes dæies viii id' Mr.' 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10348 Wan þou seist, quaþ þe king, þat þat was mi þouȝt. c1420? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 2034 Goo we hens, for that hold I best. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 3 The iewes also se almyghty god, but that was in a more excellent maner. 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. i. 56 To be, or not to be, that is the Question. 1693J. Edwards Author. O. & N. Test. 154 The Pagans would jeer the Jews for that. 1738Swift Pol. Conversat. ii. 140, I can just carve Pudden, and that's all. 1824Scott Redgauntlet ch. xx, I will say that for the English,..that they are a ceeveleesed people to gentlemen that are under a cloud. 1838Ruskin Ess. Music & Paint. Wks. 1903 I. 285 If others do not follow their example,—the more fools they,—that's all.
d. After various preposititions, referring to a precise time just mentioned, or an act or event in relation to the precise time of its occurrence: e.g. after that = after that time, or after that happened; by that = by that time, or by the time that happened; upon that, with that = as or immediately after that was said, done, etc. See also the prepositions.
In OE. prepositions governed other cases besides the accusative, as the dative, e.g. æfter, ǽr, mid, onmang, tó ðǽm, the instrumental, e.g. for þý, mid þý, etc. These partly survived in early ME.; e.g. fro þan þat (see fro prep. 3).
13..Cursor M. 2827 (Cott.) Bi þat [v.r. þan] began þe light o dai. c1420Anturs of Arth. 565 The sone was passed, by þat, mydday and mare. c1425Cursor M. 14360 (Laud) Fro that forth..There folowid Ihesu folk full fele. c1515Cocke Lorell's B. 12 With that they cryed, and made a shoute. 1526Tindale Acts xxvii. 33 In the meane tyme, bitwixt that and daye. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. ii. 278 A proclamation was upon that issued out. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. i. 17 Some time after that.., they were..agreeably surprised. 1802Jefferson Writ. (1830) III. 496 Probably on the 24th, or within two or three days of that. 1833T. Hook Parson's Dau. iii. i, My young mistress went to be about eleven, and the Count went to bed before that. 1862M. E. Braddon Lady Audley xl, With that the surgeon goes to fetch the envelopes.
†e. In apposition with a following clause introduced by thăt conj.; chiefly in phr. with prep., as for thát thăt = for that cause that, because; in thát thăt = in that circumstance that, inasmuch as; to thát thăt = to the end that, in order that. Obs.
Taking the place of OE. þǽm, þám, þon, or þý, in for þám þe, on þám þe, to þám þe, for þon þe, to þý þe or þæt.
1502Ord. Crysten Men i. iii. (1506) 31 To that that he be worthely dysposed to receyue the grace. 1513More Rich. III (1883) 2 In that that manye of them were dead. 1532― Confut. Tindale Wks. 659/2 The knowen catholike churche is proued to be the verye churche of Chryste, in that that from the beginning it hath..been..kepte and contynued one. 1535Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) I. 417 In that that the said frensh kyng hathe..answered at all tymes on the kinges parte. a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV 222 Kynge Edward in these hys last battayles was..fortunate for that, that he at sondry..tymes..was persecuted..of his enemyes.
f. take that! († have that!): a phrase used in delivering a blow, etc.
a1425Cursor M. 16290 (Trin.) Wiþ his hond a buffet He ȝaf ihesus..He seide..Take þat to teche þe lore. c1425Cast. Persev. 3119 in Macro Plays, For þi coueytyse, haue þou þat, I schal þee bunche with my bat. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. ii. ii. 23 Thinkst yu I iest? hold, take thou that, and that. 1833Marryat P. Simple xii, I must do my duty, Sir,..so take that—and that—and that—(thrashing the man with his rattan). Ibid. xiii, Then I'll turn Protestant and damn the Pope—take that now, Father M'Grath.
2. Used emphatically, instead of repeating a previous word or phrase.
a. Preceded by and (rarely but), and referring to something in the previous clause. [Cf. L. et id, idque, F. et cela.]
c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 278 On þam [berries] ys sæd and þæt sweart. c1175Lamb. Hom. 121 Crist godes sune wes ibuhsum..to þa deðe, and þet to swulche deðe swa [etc.]. c1386Chaucer Friar's T. 294, I haue been syk, and that ful many a day. c1485Digby Myst. iv. 1067 We shall here tidinges.., And þat I trust shortlye. 1535Coverdale 2 Kings iv. 3 Borowe without of all thy neghboures emptye vessels, & that not a fewe. ― Ps. xlvi. 5 God helpeth her, & yt right early. 1581Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 62 Exercise indeede wee doe, but that very fore-backwardly. 1772Wesley Jrnl. 2 June, A man began to scream, and that so loud that my voice was quite drowned. 1833L. Ritchie Wand. by Loire 168 It was necessary..to act, and that promptly.
b. Representing a word or phrase in the previous clause or sentence: usually standing first in its own clause, with inverted construction (that I will = I will do that). colloq.
c1350Will. Palerne 4161 Hete hem þider wende..Þat i wol, seide william. a1450Cov. Myst. xxiii. (1841) 222 Hath any man condempnyd the? Mulier. Nay forsothe that hathe ther nought. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iv. v. 60 Was there a wise woman with thee? Fal. I, that there was. 1642Suddaine Answ. to Sud. Moderatour 3 The Moderator is full of Rhetorick and Oratory too, that he is. 1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Man of Many Fr. I. 196, ‘I can say 'em all!’ ‘That you can't’, said Tom. 1865Ruskin Sesame i. §29 To feel with them, we must be like them; and none of us can become that without pains. 1872‘L. Carroll’ Through Looking-Glass vi, ‘They must be very curious creatures.’ ‘They are that’, said Humpty Dumpty. 1900F. P. Dunne in Westm. Gaz. 13 June 1/3 ‘They'll be out here nex' week’... ‘They will that’, Mr. Dooley replied.
3. a. In opposition to this (cf. II. 2): esp. in phr. this and (or) that = one thing and (or) another: see this B. I. 3. Also occas. that..that = one thing..another thing.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiii. §2 Þonne lufað sum ðæt, sum elles hwæt. 1390–[see this B. I. 3]. c1450tr. De Imitatione iii. xvi. 84 Wheþer a good spirit or an euel stire þe to desire þat or þat. Ibid. lv. 130 Lete oon seke þat, a noþer þat. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xvi, Lay that and that thegither! 1842Marryat Perc. Keene xiv, Young as I was, I also could put that and that together.
b. spec. (after Latin idiom). The former: correl. to this = the latter: see this B. I. 3 b. Now arch. and literary.
c1440–1868 [see this B. I. 3 b]. 1654Z. Coke Logick (1657) A iij b, Corruption of manners, and mazing Errors... These delude and distract, that doth deboish a people.
4. As quasi-n., with pl. thats (now freq. contrasted with whats). Also (with capital T) as quasi-proper name: see this B. I. 3 c, d.
1656–1895 [see this B. I. 3 c, d]. 1890W. James Princ. Psychol. I. xii. 466 The conception of some object as a whole..points to and identifies for future thought a certain that. 1899F. W. Maitland Let. 4 Dec. (1965) 205, I wander in a maze of whiches and thats. 1909W. James Pluralistic Universe 342 All the whats as well as the thats of reality, relational as well as terminal, are in the end contents of immediate concrete perception. 1910Contemp. Rev. Mar. 307 The immediacy of faith..will furnish us with the That, whilst we may have to look to other sources for the What. 1933Mind XLII. 27 A fundamental tenet rather insistently taught us..; namely, that things and events, as real, are thats, as well as whats. 1975New Yorker 5 May 139/1 We wish not to guess but to know more than thises and thats, to know universal truths.
5. Phrases, belonging to senses 1 and 2.
a. that is (more fully that is to say, † to wit, etc.): (a) introducing (or more rarely following) an explanation of the preceding word, phrase, or statement (or a modifying correction of it); (b) accompanying (usu. following) an explanatory limitation or condition of a preceding statement.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 105 Þe oðer mihte is Castitas, þet is clenesse on englisc. a1225Ancr. R. 348 Efter schrifte, hit falleð to speken of Penitence, þet is, dedbote. 1340Ayenb. 210 Huanne þou woldest bidde god..wisliche and diligentliche, þet is ententifliche and perseuerantliche. a1440Relig. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. 8 The thirde sacrement es callede penance, þat es sothefaste for-thynkynge þat we hafe of oure synne. 1523[Coverdale] Old God & New (1534) B j, In all poyntes, yt is to wyte bothe in his doctryne and also in his lyuynge. 1625B. Jonson Staple of N. i. i, Look to me,..That is look on me, and with all thine eyes. 1802Paley Nat. Theol. xxiii. (ed. 2) 440 Every animated being has its sensorium, that is, a certain portion of space, within which perception and volition are exerted. 1865Ruskin Sesame i. §21 Those who ‘intrude’ (thrust, that is) themselves into the fold. 1945N. Mitford Pursuit of Love xiii. 101 I bet the Scotsboro' boys will be electrocuted in the end, if they don't die of old age first, that is. 1956W. Golding Pincher Martin x. 155 ‘I think finally, I shall go into the Navy.’ ‘You!’..‘If they'd have me, that is.’ 1958Argosy Sept. 30 The Buttafava household was happy as could be. All, that is, except Fiorella. 1969R. Hutchings Lucky in Jeopardy iii. 99 You'll be tasting it for yourself up at the House this very evening—if you don't go missing another meal there, that is.
b. all that: all that sort of thing; that and everything of the kind. and all that, and so forth, et cetera (see all A. 8 c); freq. implying a diffident or dismissive attitude on the part of the speaker; and all that jazz: see jazz n. 3 b; so, in same sense, and that (now chiefly in substandard speech or representations of it). not so..as all that: not so..as that amounts to; not quite so..as that. for all that: see for 23 a. like that, of that kind, or in that manner: see like a. 1 ¶ , adv. 1.
c1440Jacob's Well 76 Ȝitt for all þat, manye of þe iewys hadden gret indignacyoun of hem. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 36 It is for all that a greater matter to expresse in Achilles his picture the very same Art. 1702Mouse grown a Rat 3 My mighty Bulk does even elevate and surprize, and all that. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. vi. 150 To talk of my repenting, alas! 'tis past all that with me... It is too late. 1742Richardson Pamela III. 127 If People will set up for Virtue, and all that, let 'em be uniformly virtuous. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 89 Full of chat, In passing harmless jokes 'bout beaus and that. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair lx, Dob reads Latin like English, and French and that. 1884Ruskin Let. to F. Randal Wks. 1907 XXX. Introd. 65 What do you think I would give to be your age, and able to draw like that! 1925E. P. Oppenheim Wrath to Come ii. xvi. 271 ‘Glad to see you and all that, Slattery,’ he said. 1929R. Graves (title) Good bye to all that. 1930Sellar & Yeatman (title) 1066 and all that. 1934J. Hilton Good-Bye, Mr. Chips xi. 80 We don't like the fellow a great deal. Very clever and all that, but a bit too clever. 1965Listener 2 Dec. 914/1 Having a fag and talking about sex and that just like she was, you know, ordinary. 1968Ibid. 20 June 801/2 Boy: What do you do then? Girl: Well, you know, typing and filing and that. 1971D. Potter Brit. Eliz. Stamps iii. 43 The Battle of Hastings, 1066 and all that, was given special treatment. 1974Economist 21 Dec. 26/3 Chairman Mao has formally ordered his revolutionary genie back into the bottle... It sounds like goodbye to all that. 1977Listener 19 May 644/1 They wait outside the pubs for them, and that.
c. at that (orig. U.S., colloq. or slang): estimated at that rate, at that standard, even in that capacity, in respect of that; too; ‘into the bargain’: ‘a cant phrase..used to define more nearly or intensify something already said’ (Bartlett).
Prob. extended from dear at that, cheap at that (price).
1830Massachusetts Spy 28 July 2/3 The march was now hurried on, yet slow at that, for I..could not walk fast. 1855Blackw. Mag. Sept. 324/2 ‘Now then, mister’, turning to the man at the bar, ‘drinks round, and cobblers at that’. 1883Stevenson Silverado Sq. 167 Yet water it was, and sea-water at that. 1884F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer I. 226 A shoemaker, and a poor one at that. 1897Trans. Amer. Pediatric Soc. IX. 73 The infant was under⁓fed, and did not receive the correct food at that.
d. that's what: used to add emphasis to a preceding statement: = ‘and that is the truth’; that's that: indicating that a discussion is closed, a matter settled, a job finished, etc.; similarly that was that; that's so: that is as you say; that statement is correct; also interrog., (is) that so? that's right: see right a. 7 e; that's it = that's that above. All colloq.
1790F. Grose Provincial Gloss. Suppl., That's what, just so; you are right. North. 1813E. S. Barrett Heroine I. ix. 95 Not a step shall she stir in our cloathes... So that's that. 1857Knickerbocker Jan. 86 The new and popular phrase of ‘That's so’, which is working its way into common parlance. 1872S. Butler Erewhon vi. 45 ‘So that's that,’ said I to myself, as I watched them scampering. 1891M. E. Ryan Pagan of Alleghanies vi. 93 ‘That so?’ she said. 1914Sat. Even. Post 4 Apr. 10/2 He's a valyable road-kid, that's what, and he ain't for sale. 1924P. Marks Plastic Age 24 ‘Well,’ he exclaimed, ‘that's that. At last I know where I'm going.’ 1930Times 26 Mar. 7/2 Martin-Smith and Bond..raced away with 4's, 5's, and 2's; so that was that. 1937R. Macaulay I would be Private ii. v. 196 I'll not be putting up with it. And, that's that. 1967Listener 14 Sept. 326/1, Well, that's it. I don't want to know. 1973Ibid. 15 Nov. 662/3 When I get to bed I absolutely hit the pillow and that's it, I don't know anything until the next morning. 1974A. Fowles Pastime ii. 14 When she'd gone after the job..and got it, he'd sort of thought that was that and he wouldn't be seeing any more of her. 1976J. Lee Ninth Man i. 79 Ulysses S. Grant..was a war hero, that's what. 1978B. Parvin Deadly Dyke (1979) v. 25 Alright..that's it Sergeant. Now, where's Alan Tucker's place?
e. that is or that was: added to give emphasis to a statement beginning with those words or the equivalent. colloq.
1911C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling ix. 78 That's exac'ly how it used to be. It's all right, that is. 1911A. Bennett Card xi. 278 Well, that was a bit of a lark, that was. 1963B.B.C. Handbk. 1964 25 The political world of..‘Panorama’, or the eventful world of ‘That Was the Week That Was’. 1977Film & Television Technician Apr. 4/2 That was the boom that was—and is. 1977N. Marsh Last Ditch ii. 37 He..suddenly ran off down the street. ‘That's Master Ferrant, that was,’ said Ricky.
** As antecedent pron.
(= F. celui, Ger. der, derjenige.)
6. As antecedent to a relative (pron. or adv.) expressed or understood.
Here, and in 7 and 8 usually (as in II. 3) definitive rather than demonstrative, the relative clause (or dependent phrase) serving to complete the definition.
a. Of a thing, in general sense: that that, that which = the thing which, what; so that whereby, that wherein, that wherewith, that whence, etc.
Sometimes following the relative clause, which then begins with what: that being in this case now pleonastic and emphatic.
[a900tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. vii. [ix.] (1890) 178 Hwelc þæs cyninges ᵹeleafa & modes wilsumnis in God wære, þæt æfter his deaðe..wæs ᵹecyðed. ]13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 535 Wyrkez and dotz þat at ȝe moun. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xvi. (Magdalena) 605 For-þi be sikker in þat,..Þat scho þe taucht. 1399Rolls of Parlt. III. 452/1 Havyng consideration to that that was prayed by the comon, that thát that was evell..shuld be..amended in this Parlement. c1400tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 48 Þat þat semys to ȝow yn þys matere. 1526Tindale 1 Cor. xi. 23 That which I gave vnto you I receaved off the lorde. 1545T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 127 Though the chylde reiecte and vomyte vp agayne that the whiche it receaueth. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 226 Hah..that thou hadst seene that, that this Knight and I haue seene. 1650R. Gentilis Considerations 233 Coriolanus, who could not attain to that as he wanted, should have forsaken that which he had received. 1674Grew Anat. Trunks ii. ii. §3 What the Mouth is, to an Animal; that the Root is to a Plant. 1875F. Hall in Lippincott's Mag. XV. 341/1 There was that about the place which filled me with a sense of utter dreariness.
b. Referring to a preceding n., and equivalent to the with the n.: e.g. in first quot., that which = ‘the bread which’.
1634Holland Pliny II. 141 The Sitanian bread, i. that which is made of three months corn. 1693tr. Blancard's Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), Rimula Laryngis, that which is covered by the Cartilage of the Epiglottis. 1825Scott Betrothed xv, Breaking into your apartment, [he] transported you to that where I myself received you from his arms. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 68 The proportion..between the load at the maximum and that by which the wheel is stopped. 1859Ruskin Two Paths ii. §54 Fine Art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart..go together.
c. Of a person. Now only as in 1 b. In quot. 1542 that which = ‘he who’ or ‘one that’.
1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 35 He..taunted Plato, as yt whiche in rebukyng hym did committe the veraye selfe same faulte. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. iv. ii. 87 Who is that that spake? Mod. That was our member who spoke first at the meeting.
7. With ellipsis of a following relative (subj. or obj. of the relative clause): = that person or thing (sc. ‘that’ or ‘which’). Now only where that is definitely demonstrative or emphatic, as in 1.
In earlier use the antecedent pronoun was omitted: see that rel. pron. 3. From the 16th c. onwards there are examples in which it is difficult to say whether the single that is the antecedent or the relative. Wherever it is emphatic it may be considered the demonstrative. Cf. also that rel. pron. 3 and 10.
[1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. 295 For that is myne is yours.] 1598Shakes. Merry W. iii. iii. 212 May be the knaue bragg'd of that he could not compasse. 1601― Twel. N. v. i. 153 Be that thou know'st thou art, and then thou art As great as that thou fear'st. 1601― Jul. C. i. ii. 314 Thy Honorable Mettle may be wrought From that it is dispos'd. 1850Neale Med. Hymns 20 Here vouchsafe to all Thy servants That they supplicate to gain. 1852M. Arnold Tristram & Iseult i. 7 Who is that stands by the dying fire? 1883Whittier Our Country 12 The best is that we have to-day. 1894H. H. Gardener Unoff. Patriot 49 She was not of his fold! It was that she thought of.
8. Followed by defining words (of or other prep. with a n., or a pple. or other vbl. adj.) which serve to qualify or particularize that in the manner of a relative clause.
a. Referring to something just mentioned, and equivalent to the with the n., or the one. (Cf. 6 b.)
c1400Mandeville ii. (1839) 13 Ȝif alle it be so, that men seyn, that this croune is of thornes... I haue seen..many times that of Paris and that of Costantynoble:..thei were bothe..made of russches of the see. 1602Carew Cornwall 54 b, So doth their Pearch exceed that of other Countries. 1707E. Chamberlayne Pres. St. Eng. iii. xi. (ed. 22) 387 That at Radcliff was founded by Nicholas Gibson. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Rubrica, The best in England is that from several parts of Derbyshire. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. xii, Turning from the history of meanness to that of enthusiasm. 1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Sutherl. I. 92 The post arrived, and brought letters... That from his sister was full of tender solicitude. Mod. Which house? That with a verandah. That formerly occupied by Mr. A.
b. In general sense = the thing that is.., what is... (Cf. 6 a.)
1607C. Newporte in 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. 54/1 Not having any man to put in trust of the ship and that in her. 1844Browning Laboratory iv, That in the mortar—you call it a gum? 1867Morris Jason vi. 325 Careful of that stored up within our hold.
†c. Referring to a statement or saying cited immediately after: usually in that of (the author).
1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. i. v. §2 The ægyptians are supposed to have been best skilled as to the form of the year, according to that of Macrobius, Anni certus modus apud solos semper ægyptios fuit. 1671H. M. tr. Erasm. Colloq. 309 Perhaps the largess may be the greater, according to that, ‘The booty which is sought for by many hands is quickly acquired’. 1679T. Puller Moder. Ch. Eng. (1843) 147 Alleging that of St. Bernard; ‘Such a number of festivities is fitter for citizens, than for exiles and pilgrims’.
II. Demonstrative Adjective. Pl. as in I.
1. a. The simple demonstrative used (as adjective in concord with a n.), to indicate a thing or person either as being actually pointed out or present, or as having just been mentioned and being thus mentally pointed out. (Now distinguished from the definite article the as being demonstrative, i.e. pointing out, and not merely definitive, i.e. distinguishing or singling out.)
The use before a possessive, as in quot. 1551, is obs. or arch., the periphrasis with of (see of 44) being now substituted for the possessive.
In Sc. also referring to something mentioned immediately after, where mod.Eng. uses this. Cf. I. 1 c, and this B. II. 1 b.
c1200Ormin 2490 Þe Laferrd haffde litell rum Inn all þatt miccle riche. c1250[see A. 2]. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 205 Ich wille telle þat cas. c1350Will. Palerne 671 He wend to haue lauȝt þat ladi loueli in armes. c1440Alphabet of Tales 63 Joseph..said he sulde com agayn þat day viij dayes. 1470–85Malory Arthur ii. iii. 79 That gentilwoman was causar of my faders deth. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. Ep. to W. Cecylle (1895) 16 Though no commoditie of that my labour..should arise. 1661Walton Angler xix. (ed. 3) 238 [This fish] was almost a yard broad, and twice that length. 1746P. Francis tr. Horace, Ep. ii. ii. 16 My stock is little, but that stock my own. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxiii, She hardly dared to suffer her thoughts to glance that way. 1821Byron Juan iii. lxxxvi. xii, The tyrant of the Chersonese Was freedom's best and bravest friend; That tyrant was Miltiades! 1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Man of Many Fr. I. 189 Sophy, put down that knife—Maria, that child will cut her fingers off. 1861M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 47 The gates were closed at nine o'clock, and on no pretext opened after that hour. 1897Pall Mall Mag. Feb. 188 The wife of the that time Governor.
b. Indicating a person or thing assumed to be known, or to be known to be such as is stated. Often (esp. before a person's name: cf. L. iste) implying censure, dislike, or scorn; but sometimes commendation or admiration. Freq. standing before a noun or noun-phrase in apposition with another. Also that one, used disparagingly of a woman.
a1300Cursor M. 11815 Þis herods..Þat caitif vn-meth and vn-meke. a1400Stac. Rome 405 Pope pelagius, þat holy mon. c1410Love Bonavent. Mirr. (1909) 50 The aungeles songen that ioyful songe Gloria in excelsis. 1526Tindale 2 Tim. i. 12 He is able to kepe that which I have committed to his kepynge agaynst that daye. 1563Homilies ii. Gluttony (1859) 301 Holofernes..had his head stricken from his shoulders by that seely woman Judith. 1591Spenser Tears of Muses 401 Thy gay Sonne, that winged God of Loue. 1611Shakes. Cymb. iii. iv. 15 That Drug-damn'd Italy. 1646R. Baillie Lett. (1841) II. 349 Will that fool Johnstone never take any course for your books? 1713Steele Guard. No. 1 ⁋1 Mr. Airs, that excellent penman. 1800Wordsw. Andrew Jones 1, I hate that Andrew Jones; he'll breed His children up to waste and pillage. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair liv. 486 You don't know how fond I was of that one... Damme, I followed her like a footman. 1865G. Macdonald A. Forbes 51 He's a dour crater, that Murdoch Malison. 1866G. Meredith Vittoria xxviii, ‘Ah! in that England of yours, women marry for wealth’. 1922F. H. Burnett Head of House of Coombe vii. 75 That one in the drawing-room isn't going to interfere with the Nursery. Not her! 1980J. Drummond Such a Nice Family v. 22, I tell you, it's her!.. I wouldn't forget that one, not if I lived to be a thousand.
c. Used with a plural n. or numeral, instead of those: now only with plurals treated as singulars (e.g. means, pains) or taken in a collective sense.
In some Sc. dialects used before plural ns. generally.
c1330Amis & Amil. 2492 And in on graue thei were leyde, That hende knyghtes both two. c1420Chron. Vilod. 3605 He come þere þat ladyes to, And tolde hem alle. 1545T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde Hh ij, From that vaynes that be not yet affixed vnto the chorion. Ibid. 72 Also to wasshe that partes in water. 1575Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 473 The present troublis quhairwith that cuntreis ar inquietit. 1654–66Earl of Orrery Parthen. (1676) 204, I will spare thee that pains. 1710Swift Examiner No. 16 ⁋7 That ill manners..I have been often guilty of. 1768Goldsm. Good-n. Man i, There's that ten guineas you were sending to the poor gentleman. 1861Trollope Framley P. I. xiii. 252 As to that five thousand pounds. 1865M. E. Braddon Only a Clod xxiv, During that rainy six weeks. 1868G. Macdonald R. Falconer i. xx, Maybe ye wad like to luik at that anes.
d. that once, that one time: see once 9 c.
e. = ‘The same’ (obs. rare). that same, † that self: see same A. 5, B. 2, 4, self B. 1, 2.
1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 190 The Rose that is eaten with the Canker is not gathered bicause it groweth on that stalke yat the sweet doth, neither was Helen made a Starre bicause shee came of that Egge with Castor.
2. a. In opposition to this: properly denoting the more distant of two things, but often vaguely indicating one thing as distinguished from another. Cf. I. 3 above.
13..[see this B. I. 3]. 1551–[see this B. II. 2].
b. Strengthened by there (also abbrev. 'ere, 'air) immediately following: see there B. 3 c. Cf. this here (here adv. 1 d). dial. and vulgar.
3. a. In concord with a n. which is the antecedent to a relative (expressed or understood). Cf. I. 6, 7.
Usually definitive rather than demonstrative, serving for introduction or anticipation of the relative clause, which completes the description; thus often interchangeable with the (cf. the a. 14), but usually more emphatic. (Similarly with a noun further defined by a pple., as in quot. 18131.)
c1470Ashby Dicta Philos. 701 That kyng that maketh his Region To be obedient to his iuste lawe. c1500Melusine 24 Erle Emerye and Raymondin..stode..on that syde as them semyd that the stryf was. 1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 450/2 A manne may saye ‘the man that we spake of was here’, or ‘that man that we spake of was here’. 1637Heylin Brief Answ. 75 It was ordeined, that that mans tongue should be cut out which did speake any slanderous..words. 1647–8Sir C. Cotterell Davila's Hist. Fr. (1678) 21 Brought..to that issue as was intended. 1658Dryden Cromwell xiii, Like that bold Greek who did the East subdue. 1690Locke Govt. i. iv. §42 By withholding that relief God requires him to afford. 1779Mirror No. 50 ⁋2 That listlessness and languor which attend a state of total inaction. 1813Eustace Italy (1815) III. xi. 394 On that peninsulated rock called La Spilla, hanging over yonder deep cavern. 1813Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. iii. (1814) 56 The root is that part of the vegetable which least impresses the eye.
b. In advb. phrases of time or place, with following relative clause (with relative usually omitted); e.g. † by that time (that).. = by the time that..(obs.). (In quot. 1573 with advb. clause.) Now rare (replaced by the), unless emphatic.
c1420Chron. Vilod. 3160 Fulle seke he was By þat tyme þat he þedur þo come. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. 240 By that tyme it was day, they came to the mountayne. 1573L. Lloyd Marrow of Hist. (1653) 93 That night before they should sail in the morning, appeared unto Simonides the self-same man. 1598R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. i. ii. (1622) 21 [They] beset the wood, that way the army should returne. 1656S. Holland Zara (1719) 65 By that time they were half over Styx, they espyed an aged Person. 1760Impostors Detected iv. iii. II. 179 He..got me a wife by that time I had attained my fifteenth year. 1805Emily Clark Banks of Douro I. 48 Enraptured at that time the event took place.
4. Indicating quality or amount: Of that kind or degree; such, so great. Const. that (conj.), as (with finite vb. or inf.), inf. (without as), or rel. pron. (also with ellipsis of the conj. or rel.); rarely without correlative. Now chiefly arch. (or dial.).
(Cf. that dem. adv.)
a1450Knt. de la Tour (1906) 131 She..wepte for her synnes, þat was the loue of God and the drede that she had for her misleuinge. 1530Tindale Prol. Deut., When I am brought in to that extremite that I must ether suffre or forsake god. 1547Boorde Introd. Knowl. iii. (1870) 133 Saynt Partryckes purgatory..is not of that effycacyte as is spoken of. 1602Shakes. Ham. i. v. 48 From me, whose loue was of that dignity, That it went hand in hand, euen with the Vow I made to her in marriage. 1648Milton Tenure Kings (1650) 57 With that cunning and dexterity as is almost imperceavable. 1678Walton Life Sanderson 53 An Error of that Magnitude, that I cannot but wonder. 1734Duchess of Queensberry in Lett. C'tess Suffolk (1824) II. 94 This enlivened us to that degree that we were mighty good company. 1821Shelley in Lady S. Mem. (1859) 155, I hope that I have treated the question with that temper and spirit as to silence cavil. 1848Dickens Dombey xlvii, He..struck her..with that heaviness, that she tottered on the marble floor. 1865L. Oliphant Piccadilly (1870) 241 He blushed to that degree that I felt quite shy.
†5. As neuter sing. of the definite article: see the A. 1 c. Obs. (exc. in that ilk: see ilk a.1). that one, that other = the one, the other: see one 18, other B. 2; also tone, tother. Obs.
c893K. ælfred Orosius i. i. §1 Tweᵹen dælas: Asia, and þæt oþer Europe. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7017 Þat þe on broþer..in nede helpeþ þere þat oþer. c1400Gamelyn 305 [He] toke him by þat on arme & threw him in a welle. 1470–85Malory Arthur x. ix. 427 Two bretheren, that one hyght Aleyn, and the other hyghte Tryan. 1509Sel. Cas. Crt. Star Chamber (Selden) 194 Half of that brigge appertaigneth to the said abbot and that other half to the said Town. 1576Gascoigne Steel Gl. (Arb.) 68 That one eye winks,..That other pries and peekes.
III. Demonstrative Adverb. a. [Closely related to the adjective use in II. 4.] To that extent or degree; so much, so. (Qualifying an adj., adv., or ppl., † rarely a vb.) Now dial. and Sc.; also colloq. with a negative: not (all) that, not very.
c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6279 His sekenes þat encrest, He gert beere him..Aboute þe contre on a bere. 1616in J. Russell Haigs vii. (1881) 160 If I had been that unhappy as to have such a foolish thing. a1670Hacket Abp. Williams ii. (1693) 67 This was carried with that little noise that..the..Bishop was not awaked. 1803Boswell Change Edin. 5 Gowd's no that scanty. 1852Dickens Bleak Ho. xxiv, I was on my guard for a blow, he was that passionate. 1870― E. Drood ii. 1884Mrs. J. H. Riddell Berna Boyle vii, The rooms are that small you might reach a book off the opposite wall. 1888‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xxi, He was that weak as he could hardly walk. 1902O. Wister Virginian xxxv, You were that cool! a1912Mod. Sc. He's grown that big ye wad hardly ken him. He was that cunning! 1932R. Lehmann Invit. Waltz i. iii. 39 This weather's that treacherous, you never know. 1937D. L. Sayers Busman's Honeymoon iv. 85, I was that ashamed I didden know w'ere to look. 1962Harper's Bazaar Aug. 60/3 The Spanish gypsies..hired to do the sweeping were not all that handy with a broom. 1969J. Leasor They don't make Them like That any More i. 7, I..looked around the stock. It wasn't all that brilliant, I must admit. 1977Spare Rib May 16/1 It's not that easy in a place like Sheffield. 1980S. Brett Dead Side of Mike xvii. 173 Charles Paris found it difficult to get that excited. 1981Listener 22 Oct. 462/1 The forgiveness of sin isn't just an easygoing matter, as if to say: ‘Well, you sinned, but it doesn't matter all that much—I forgive you.’
b. With an adv. or adj. of quantity, e.g. that far (= as far as that), that much, that high: more definite than so, as indicating the precise amount.
1634Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 126, I repose that much in His rich grace that He will be loath to change upon me. 1805Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 39 His family, which he had sent that far in the course of the day. 1856Mrs. Stowe Dred i. I. 5, I never liked anything that long [= six weeks]. 1870M. Bridgman Rob. Lynne II. xi. 224, ‘I..recollect you that high’—holding her hand about six inches off the table.
▸ U.S. slang (orig. in African-American usage). to be all that: to be great; to be particularly impressive or attractive. Also in to be all that and a bag of chips.
Often in negative contexts.
1991H. Nelson & M. A. Gonzales Bring the Noise 211 Overall, Raising Hell ain't all that. 1994A. Heckerling Clueless (film script) (Green Rev. Pages) 71 Dionne. He thinks he's all that. Cher. Yeah, God's gift. 1994People (Electronic ed.) 12 Dec. 115 ‘She's all that and a bag of chips.’ Meaning, he thinks she's cool. 2000Newsweek (Electronic ed.) 26 June 41 He was all that and a bag of chips, know what I'm saying? 2006Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 17 Mar. iv. 12/1 A golden opportunity to silence those who believe he's not all that, even if he has the 2005 state title under his belt.
▪ II. that, rel. pron.|ðət|
Forms: see below.
[An unstressed and phonetically weakened form of that dem. pron., used to subordinate one predication to another.
The Common Indo-Eur. had no relative pronoun, which has been developed separately in the different linguistic families. In Latin it was evolved out of the interrogative, in Teutonic chiefly out of the demonstrative. But even within the Teutonic languages the relative is differently formed (see Wright Gothic Grammar §270, Old Eng. Grammar §468). In mod. English it is expressed by thăt, from the demonstrative pron., and by who (whom), which, what (after L. qui, quæ, quod, F. qui, que, quel) from the interrogative pronouns. In northern dialect, ME. and mod., it is commonly expressed by at, 'at, rel. pron. In OE. it was expressed (1) by the simple demonstrative se, séo, þæt; (2) by the particle þe; (3) by þe preceded by a personal pronoun or the demonstrative. For þe, see the conjunctive particle. The use of the demonstrative as a relative appears to have come about simply by the subordination of the second of two originally consecutive sentences to the first; thus, ‘he came to a river; thát (or this) was broad and deep’, whence ‘he came to a river thăt was broad and deep’. In OE. it is sometimes impossible to determine whether the pronoun of the second clause is still demonstrative or has become relative. Thus the words in the OE. version of Bæda's History, i. xii. (1890) 52 ‘Hi wæron Wihtgylses suna . þæs fæder wæs Witta haten . þæs fæder wæs Wihta haten . and þæs Wihta fæder wæs Woden nemned’, might be read either as short consecutive sentences, ‘They were sons of Wihtgyls; his father [lit. that's father] was called Witta; his father was called Wihta; and this Wihta's father was named Woden’; or ‘They were sons of Wihtgyls whose father was called Witta, whose father was called Wihta, and whose (Wihta's) father was named Woden’. Bæda's Latin has cujus in all three places, so that the translator apparently used þǽs as a relative. See also Wülfing Syntax Alfreds des Grossen I. §275. Now, and for a long time past, the relative that has been stressless, and consequently with obscure vowel; but this unstressing and obscuration came gradually, and was never represented in writing, so that in the written forms there is nothing to distinguish the relative from the demonstrative.]
A. Examples of early inflexional forms.
(The inflexional forms were, to begin with, those of the dem. pron. and definite article (see prec. and the); but, as relative, that is now invariable for gender, case, and number.)
c825Vesp. Psalter ix. 12 Singað dryhtne se [L. qui] eardað in Sion. Ibid. 28 Ðes [cujus] muð awerᵹednisse & bitternisse ful is. Ibid. cxxxii. 3 Swe swe deaw..se astiᵹeð in munt Sion. c825Vesp. Hymns xiii. 4 ᵹehiowadas mon ðæm [cui] ðinre onlicnisse ondwliotan saldes ᵹelicne. c893K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §1 Oceanus.., þone man garsecg hateð. Ibid. §11 Rin þa ea, seo wilð of þæm beorᵹe þe mon Alpis hætt. Ibid., Donua þa ea, þære æwielme is neah Rines ofre. Ibid. ii. vii. §2 An burᵹ in Affrica sio [quæ] wæs neh þæm sæ. a900tr. Bæda's Hist. i. xii. [xv.] (1890) 52 Wihta..þæs..fæder wæs Woden nemned. c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxiv. 15 Unfeᵹernis slitnese ðiu [Rushw. þe] ᵹecueden wæs from ðæm witgo. c1100O.E. Chron. an. 1093, Anselme..se wæs ær abbod on Bæc.
B. Signification.
The general relative pronoun, referring to any antecedent, and used without inflexion irrespective of gender, number, and case. I. 1. a. Introducing a clause defining or restricting the antecedent, and thus completing its sense. (The ordinary use: referring to persons or things.)
Sometimes replaceable by who (of persons) or which (of things), but properly only in cases where no ambiguity results: cf. 2, and see who, which, rel. (For ellipsis of that, see 10.)
c825Vesp. Psalter vii. 7 In bebode ðæt ðu bibude. 858Charter in O.E. Texts 438 Ðes landes boec..ðet eðelbearht cyning wullafe sealde. c888K. ælfred Boeth. v. §1 Ne sece ic no her þa bec ac þæt ðæt þa bec forstent. c1000Ags. Ps. (Th.) lxxxviii. 41 [lxxxix. 48] Hwylc manna is þæt his aᵹene..sawle ᵹeneriᵹe? c1175Lamb. Hom. 3 God [? goð] in þane castel þet is onȝein eou. Ibid. 79 Þes Mon þhet alihte from ierusalem in to ierico. a1225Ancr. R. 162 Þeo þet duden mid God al þet heo euer wolden. a1300Cursor M. 22118 All þat he cristen finds þare. 1340Ayenb. 39 Þe ualse yulemde þet vlyeþ. c1374Chaucer Boeth. iv. pr. vii. 113 (Camb. MS.) Þou þat art put in the encres or in the heyhte of vertu. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 38 Þo þat feynen hem folis. 1382Wyclif Matt. iv. 16 The peple that dwelte in derknessis say grete liȝt. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 244 It that was wont to be callit law. c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. ix. (1885) 130 The kyng of Scottis þat last dyed. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xx. 8 He rewlis weill, that weill him self can gyd. 1526Tindale John iv. 26, I thatt spake vnto the, am he. 1531Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 24 A distres that I toke of hyr. 1596Danett tr. Comines (1614) 173 But this was not it that grieued them. 1611Bible Ps. lxv. 2 O thou that hearest prayer. 1712Addison Spect. No. 512 ⁋6 A Tree that grew near an old Wall. 1798Coleridge Anc. Mar. ii. v, We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea. 1865Swinburne Atalanta 76 How shall I say, son, That am no sister? 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 342 This is about all that he has to say. 1886C. E. Pascoe Lond. of To-day xxx. (ed. 3) 269 The Westminster Hall that we now see..is the building of Richard II's time.
b. As obj. of a preposition, which in this case stands at the end of the relative clause (in OE. and ME. sometimes immediately before the verb): e.g. the cup that I shall drink of = the cup of which I shall drink; ME. these that I have of told = these of which I have told.
(When whom or which is substituted for that, the prep. precedes the relative.)
c1200Ormin 462 Þiss gode prest, Þatt we nu mælenn offe, Wass..ȝehatenn Zacaryas. a1300Seven Sins 44 in E.E.P. (1862) 19 Þe deuil is his executur of is gold and is tresure Þat he so moch trist to. c1400Mandeville (1839) ii. 10 The naylles that crist was naylled with on the cros. c1430Hymns Virg. 37/69 Theise .iij. þat y haue of toold. 1473Coventry Leet-Bk. 383 The which letter..is in kepyng in the Tour of Sent Marie hall in the same box þat the kynges generall pardon graunted to this Citee is Ine. 1526Tindale Matt. xx. 22 Are ye able to drynke off the cuppe that y shall drinke of, and to be baptised with the baptism that y shalbe baptised with? 1611Bible Judges xx. 48 All the cities that they came to. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. 49 The dangers that Mistrust and Timorus were driven back by. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xxix [xxx], The ship that somebody was sailing in. 1841S. Warren Ten thousand a-Year xiv, There's nothing..that we need be afraid of. Mod. The play that you were talking about. The hole that the mouse ran into. The town that he came from.
c. that was: added when a married woman is referred to by her maiden name; occas. also added following the name of a deceased person.
1785A. Seward Let. 31 Dec. (1811) I. 97 Miss Jenny Harry that was, for she afterwards married. 1872Geo. Eliot Middlem. IV. viii. lxxiv. 201, I am not so sorry for Rosamond Vincy that was, as I am for her aunt. 1937D. L. Sayers Busman's Honeymoon 21 Her new ladyship, Miss Vane that was, went down to Oxford the day before. 1970S. J. Perelman Baby, it's Cold Inside 178 You remember her, don't you—Luba Pneumatic that was? 1977N. Marsh Last Ditch v. 135 A..photograph displayed a truculent young woman... ‘That's Dulce [sic],’ said Sergeant Plank. ‘That was,’ he added.
2. Introducing a clause stating something additional about the antecedent (the sense of the principal clause being complete without the relative clause). Now only poet. or rhet., the ordinary equivalents being who (obj. whom) of persons, and which of things.
But the relative clause is often merely descriptive, stating an attribute of the antecedent; or it may give the reason or a reason of the main statement, and thus be closely connected with it; the use in these cases approaches that in 1. There are thus many cases in which modern use allows either that or who, which, and in which poets prefer that. (That as in quot. c 1450 is now impossible.)
c893K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §7 On Indea londe is xliiii þeoda buton þæm iᵹlande Taprabane, þæt hæfð on him x byrᵹ. a900tr. Bæda's Hist. i. i. (1890) 24 Breoton ist garsecges ealond, ðæt wæs iu ᵹeara Albion haten. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. vi. 30 æcyres weod, þæt ðe [Rushw. þæt] to dæᵹ is & bið to morᵹen on ofen asend. a1240Ureisun in Lamb. Hom. 185 Ha haueþ oþer wilneþ after cunfort on eorþe, þet is fikel and fals. a1300Cursor M. 9406 He wroght a felau of his ban Till Adam, þat was first allan [v.r. his an]. c1320Cast. Love 8–9 God ffader and Sone and Holigost, Þat alle þing on eorþe sixt and wost, Þat O God art and þrilli-hod. c1386Chaucer Prol. 10 Smale foweles maken melodye, That slepen al the nyght with open eye. c1450Godstow Reg. 501 Yf hit happen the said priour and Covent..to faile in the payment of þe seid yerely rente (that god for-bede). c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxiv. 515 Reynaude, that sawe this harde batayll, shoved himselfe among the thickest. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Litany, O God mercyfull father, that despysest not the sighinge of a contryte hearte. 1621Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 16 You are a merry man..that tell me, your selfe, you are not within. 1678Gunpowder Treason in Select. Harl. Misc. (1793) 252 Catesby..thereupon engaged Sir Everard Digby, that promised to advance fifteen hundred pounds towards it; and Mr. Francis Tresham, that gave him assurance of two thousand pounds. 1824Lamb Let. to W. Marten 19 July in Sotheby's Catal. 5 June (1902) 66, Pity me that have been a Gentleman these four weeks and am reduced in one day to the state of a ready writer. 1843Macaulay Lays Anc. Rome, Horatius, False Sextus That wrought the deed of shame. 1885–94R. Bridges Eros & Psyche May 4 Lazy mists, that still Climb'd on the shadowy roots of every hill.
3. As subj. or obj. of the rel. clause, with ellipsis of the antecedent.
a. Of things: thăt = (the thing) that, that which, what. Very common down to 16th c.; now arch. and poetic, what being the prose form.
In later use the single that may become emphatic, and is then demonstrative with ellipsis of the relative: see that dem. pron. 7.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxvi. §1 Þonne ðu..oððe hæfdest þæt ðu noldes oððe næfdest þæt ðu woldest. c1175Lamb. Hom. 5 Nu scule ȝe understonden þet hit bi-tacnet. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3066 Ðat [h]ail ða bileaf sal al ben numen. a1300Cursor M. 3711 He ete and dranc þat was his will. c1315Shoreham vi. 11 Þou hast y-ryȝt þat was amys, Ywonne þat was y-lore. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 7877 Antenor did that In him was. 1477–9Rec. St. Mary at Hill 91 Paid to hewe Clerk that he lackyd in his wagis. 1535Coverdale Matt. xx. 14 Take that thine is [Wyclif that that is thine] and go thy waye. a1568R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 49 Where they should neither see that was vncumlie nor heare that was vnhonest. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 77, I earne that I eate: get that I weare. 1611Bible Job xlii. 3 Therefore haue I vttered that I vnderstood not. 1887Morris Odyss. xii. 301 In peace eat that ye have.
b. Of persons: thăt = (the person) that, he (or him) that, one that; pl. (persons) that, they (them), or those who. Now only after there are and the like: see there adv. 5 f.
c1320Cast. Love 1 Þat good þenkeþ good may do. a1400Arthur 1 Herkeneþ, þat loueþ honour. 140026 Pol. Poems i. 122 That taken with wrong, are goddis theues. 14..Why I can't be a Nun 244 in E.E.P. (1862) 144 Dame chastyte..sum her loved in hert fulle dere, And there weren that dyd not so. 1560Bible (Genev.) Prov. xi. 24 There is that scatereth, and is more increased. c1585R. Browne Answ. Cartwright 79 There were of the princes that tooke his parte. 1605Shakes. Lear i. iv. 279 Woe [sc. to him] that too late repents. 1611Bible Exod. iii. 14, I am that I am. a1665Digby Priv. Mem. (1827) 272 Of her ancestors there have been that have exalted and pulled down kings.
II. In various special or elliptical constructions, in some of which that passes into a relative or conjunctive adverb. (Cf. next word.)
4. After same: sometimes strictly the rel. pron. (1); sometimes with looser construction or ellipsis: = as: see same A. 1 a, and cf. as B. 23.
c1200, etc. [see same A. 1 a]. a1575tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden No. 29) 181 William made the same awnswer that befor. 1600Surflet Countrie Farme i. xxx. 200 The mare-mule is subiect to the same diseases that the horse. 1664H. More Exp. 7 Epist. viii. 124, I understand by ϕιλαδελϕία the same that ἀγάπη, universal Love. 1690W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. 387 They say Diana is the same that the Moon is. 1771Luckombe Hist. Print. 404 He grasps his left hand about the Foot end of the Page in the same posture that his right hand grasps the Head end. 1783Colman Prose on Sev. Occas., Notes Art Poetry (1787) III. 97 Other criticks have taken the text..in the same sense that I have here considered it. 1819Hazlitt Pol. Ess. 421 If Mr. Malthus chooses to say, that men will always be governed by the same good mechanical motives that they are at present.
5. Preceded by a descriptive noun or adj., in a parenthetic exclamatory clause (e.g. fool that he is): = as B. 25.
c1374Chaucer Troylus iii. 1516 (1565) Nece, how kan ye fare? Criseyde answerede, Neuere þe bet for yow, Fox þat ye ben. c1440York Myst. xxx. 26 Lo! sirs, my worthely wiffe, þat sche is! 1526Tindale Rom. vii. 24 O wretched man that I am. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. v. iv. 28 O miserable, vnhappy that I am. 1605R. R. in Sylvester's Wks. (1880) I. 15/1 Foole that I was, I thought in younger times [etc.]. 1855Browning Popularity 1 Stand still, true poet that you are! I know you. 1877E. W. Gosse North. Stud., 4 Danish Poets (1890) 227 A few months after Andersen—poor little forlorn adventurer that he was—left that city.
6.
†a. = As B. 13. Obs. rare—1.
c1175Credo in Lamb. Hom. 75 Alle ȝe kunnen leste, þet ich wene, ower credo.
b. In not that I know, and similar expressions: = According to what, as far as. Cf. know v. 18 c.
c1460Towneley Myst. xxi. 239 No word yit he spake That I wyst. 1530Palsgr. 762/1, I never trespassed agaynst hym, that I wotte of. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 155 Pol. Hath there bene such a time..That I haue possitiuely said, 'tis so, When it prou'd otherwise? King. Not that I know. 1776Trial of Nundocomar 30/1, I was not at Mongheer; nor was he there, that I know of. 1819Shelley Cenci i. iii, Can we do nothing? Colon. Nothing that I see. 1840Carlyle Heroes iv. (1872) 126 But Protestantism has not died yet, that I hear of! 1864G. W. Dasent Jest & Earnest (1873) II. 343 He had never seen Hall that he knew before that day. 1886Sir N. Lindley in Law Rep. 31 Chanc. Div. 367 An injunction to restrain such proceedings has never that I know of been granted since 1851. Mod. He is not here, that I can learn. No one knows anything about it, that I can find.
7. a. After the word time, or any n. meaning a point or space of time: At, in, or on which; when.
Usually introducing a defining clause, as in 1: sometimes an additional statement, as in 2. For ellipsis of that, see 10.
Beowulf 2646 Nu is se dæᵹ cumen þæt ure man-dryhten mæᵹenes be-hofað. a1000Cædmon's Gen. 585 (Gr.) Wæs seo hwil þæs lang, þæt ic ᵹeornlice gode þeᵹnode. c1000ælfric Num. xiii. 21 Hit wæs ða se tima þæt winberian ripodon. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 862 Fro þe fryday þat he deyde, To tyme þat he ros. c1386Chaucer Reeve's T. 189 Allas quod Iohn the day that I was born. 1470–85Malory Arthur vi. xvi. 209 Thyne houre is come that thou muste dye. 1525Ld. Berners Froiss. II. 53 In the meane tyme that our supper was a dressyng, this knight said to me [etc.]. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 187, I was neuer so berim'd since Pythagoras time that I was an Irish Rat. 1611Bible Gen. ii. 17 In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 31 You speak..like a sage..at an age that our young nobility scarcely begin to think. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. xii, The night that he went to the play. 1879Geo. Eliot Theo. Such i. 10 One day that I had incautiously mentioned this interesting fact.
†b. = To the time that; till, until. Obs.
971Blickl. Hom. 237 Nu þry daᵹas to lafe syndon þæt hie þe willaþ acwellan. c1175Lamb. Hom. 33 Þah þu liuedest of adames frumðe þet come þes dei. c1205Lay. 229 Þis lond he hire lende Þat come hir lifes ende. c1320Cast. Love 1412 From þe tyme þat he Adam wrouȝte, Þat he vp-ros and vs for-bouȝ te.
†c. = From the time that; since. Obs. rare—1.
c1205Lay. 26294 Hit is feole ȝere Þat heore þrættes comen here.
8. Connecting two clauses loosely or anacoluthically, the relative or dependent clause being imperfect (the part omitted being suggested by the principal clause); giving the effect of the ordinary rel. pron. with ellipsis of a preposition, an infinitive, etc.: cf. 7. (Now considered slipshod.)
c1425Wyntoun Cron. iv. xxv. 2380 Off þe nycht next gane beforn Þat Iulyus was slayn on þe morn. c1530Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. 494 Oftentimes people speketh of a thing that they knowe but lytle what the conclusyon shall be. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. ii. vi. 9 Who riseth from a feast With that keene appetite that he sits downe? 1673Essex Papers (Camden) I. 51 Who put this Citty into that disorder that I found it. 1779Mirror No. 29 ⁋4 His fortune and his ancestry entitled him..to appear in any shape that he pleased. 1875G. W. Dasent Vikings I. 146 If you will only see things..in the light that we see them.
9. That followed by a poss. pron. corresponding to the antecedent (e.g. you that your, the man that his, OE. þe his, the particle 3 d) is an ancient mode of expressing the genitive of the relative = whose.
(The same idiom is used in many langs., e.g. Celtic, Semitic, etc.). Still common dialectally.
1456Sc. Acts Jas. II (1814) II. 45/2 Item, it is ordanyt..at ilk man þt his gudis extendis to xxtj merckis be bodyn at þe lest wt..a suerde and a buclare, a bow and a schaif of arrowis. 1470–85Malory Arthur viii. xxxv. 327 There came a man that sire Tristram afore hand had slayne his broder. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §148 That man that thy horse hath eten his corne or grasse wyll be greued at the. 1602Ld. Cromwell i. ii, Theres legions now of beggars..That their originall did spring from Kings. [1873Murray Dial. S. Scotl. 196 When the Relative is used in the Possessive Case (whose) it is necessary to express it by..at (that) and the possessive pronoun belonging to the antecedent; thus ‘the man ăt hys weyfe's deid’..‘the wumman ăt ye ken hyr sun’.]
¶10. The relative is very frequently omitted by ellipsis, esp. in senses 1, 1 b (chiefly as obj. or pred., less freq. and now only in certain connexions as subj.); also in sense 7.
This (one of the commonest idioms in colloquial English, and largely found in the literary language) prob. began with the relative þe, the. Cf. also that conj. 10.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 297 Adam ben king and eue quuen Of alle ðe ðinge in werlde ben. Ibid. 751 Ilc ðing deieð ðor-inne is driuen. 13..Cursor M. 4892 Yon er theues..And theif es he þam hider send. a1450Le Morte Arth. 72, I drede we shall discouerid be, Off the loue is vs by-twene. 1578Timme Caluine on Gen. 164 When those things should follow are set before. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. i. 212, I do loue a woman..and shee's faire I loue. 1611Bible Gen. iii. 5 In the day ye eate thereof, then your eyes shalbee opened. 1676Glanvill Ess. Pref. a 3 b, It shews a particular service Philosophy doth. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xxi. §32 Life it self..is a burden cannot be born under the lasting..pressure of such an uneasiness. 1781Cowper Verses Alex. Selkirk i, I am monarch of all I survey. 1850Tennyson In Mem. iv, What is it makes me beat so low? Ibid. v, To put in words the grief I feel. 1851Longfellow Golden Leg. ii. 273 Who was it said Amen? 1855Browning Misconceptions i, This is a spray the Bird clung to.
▪ III. that, conj.|ðət|
Also 1 þæt, 2–3 þet, 2–6 þat.
[Uses of that dem. or rel. pron. in which it becomes a mere relative or conjunctive particle: cf. the particle. So in the other WGer. langs. Cf. Gr. ὅτι from neuter of rel. pron. ὅστις, L. quod from neuter of rel. qui, It. che, Sp., Pg., Fr. que.]
I.
1. a. Introducing a dependent substantive-clause, as subject, object, or other element of the principal clause, or as complement of a n. or adj., or in apposition with a n. therein.
The dependent clause as subject is most commonly placed after the verb and introduced by a preceding it, e.g. ‘it is certain that he was there’ = ‘that he was there, is certain’: see it 4 b. As object, it usually follows, e.g. ‘I have heard that he was there’. (For ellipsis of that, see 10.)[This use of that is generally held to have arisen out of the dem. pron. pointing to the clause which it introduces. Cf. (1) He once lived here: we all know thát; (2) That (now this) we all know: he once lived here; (3) We all know that (or this): he once lived here; (4) We all know thăt he once lived here; (5) We all know he once lived here. In 1, 2, 3 that is a demonstrative pronoun in apposition to the statement ‘he once lived here’; in 4 it has sunk into a conjunctive particle, and (like the relative pronoun) has become stressless; in 5 it has disappeared, and ‘he once lived here’ appears as the direct object of ‘we know’. After aware, certain, conscious, suspicious, assured, informed, persuaded, etc., of or some other prep. seems understood before that: ‘I am certain of that: he once lived here’. But ‘I am certain that’ may have arisen as another way of saying ‘I know that’; and so of the other expressions.] c888K. ælfred Boeth. v. §3 Ic wat þæt ælc wuht from Gode com. a900Cynewulf Elene 815 Nu ic wat þæt þu eart ᵹecyðed and acenned allra cyninga þrym. Ibid. 1168 Þæt is ᵹedafenlic, þæt þu dryhtnes word on hyᵹe healde. c1000ælfric Gen. i. 4 God ᵹeseah þa, þæt hit god wæs. c1175Lamb. Hom. 111 Þe sixte unþeau is..þet he for modleste ne mei his monnan don stere. c1205Lay. 13 Hit com him on mode..þet he wolde of Engle Þa æðelæn tellen. c1250O. Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 26 And herodes i-herde þet o king was i-bore. a1300K. Horn (Camb. MS.) 272 And þe sonde seide Þat sik lai þat maide. 1375Barbour Bruce iii. 481 Þen hapnyt at þat tyme..Þat þe Erle of þe Leuenax was Amang þe hillis. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 362 We ben certein þat Crist may not axe oþir obedience. c1386Chaucer Prol. 500 And this figure he added eek ther to, That if gold ruste, what shal Iren doo? c1440Generydes 2902 What think ye best thanne..yt we shall doo? 1535Coverdale Exod. iii. 12 This shall be the token, yt I haue sent the. 1567Painter Pal. Pleas. (1813) II. 160 That I remaine in fielde it is to me greate fame. 1611Bible Prov. xix. 2 That the soule be without knowledge, it is not good. 1726G. Roberts Four Years' Voy. 135 Their Opinion, that it was not real, but imaginary Land we had seen. 1784Cowper Task i. 156 We have borne The ruffling wind, scarce conscious that it blew. 1809Coleridge Lett. (1895) 555 The story is as certain as that Dr. Dodd was hung. 1873Morley Rousseau I. vii. 284 Rousseau was persuaded that Madame d'Epinay was his betrayer.
†b. Introducing a clause in apposition to or exemplifying the statement in the principal clause: = in that, in the fact that. Obs. or arch. (now usually expressed by in with gerund).
This appears to be transitional between 1 and 2.
901–24in Birch Cart. Sax. II. 236 Helmstan ða undæde ᵹedyde, ðæt he æðeredes belt forstæl. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iv. 119 We have don evyll that we have not taken surete. 1526Tindale Phil. iv. 14 Ye have wele done, that ye bare parte with me in my tribulacion. 1611Bible 1 Kings viii. 18 Thou diddest well that it was in thine heart. ― Acts x. 33 Thou hast well done, that thou art come [so Cranmer: Wycl. & Rhem. in coming: Tindale & Geneva, for to come].
†c. Introducing a n.-clause as obj. of a preceding preposition: = the fact that. Obs. and rare, exc. after certain prepositions with which that forms conjunctional phrases (after that, before that, by that, etc.), sometimes with special meanings, and chiefly obs. or arch.: see after C. 1 b, before C. 1 a, by prep. 21 c, for that 1, in prep. 40, unto, with, without. Obs.
c1175–[see after C. 1 b]. c1200–[see before C. 1 a]. a1300–[see by prep. 21 c]. c1440–[see in prep. 40]. 1444Rolls of Parlt. V. 121/1 To stonde and abyde for terme of her lyves, with that they dwell continuelli within the seid Toun or Fraunchise. 1484Caxton Fables of Alfonce ix, I shalle not leue the goo, withoute that thow hold to me that [etc.]. 1485Rolls of Parlt. VI. 325/2 Contynued their possessions in the same; unto that Humfrey Stafford..entred into the said mannors. 1525Ld. Berners Froiss. II. 554 The bysshoppe and the lorde de la Ryver were joyouse of that the herytaunce shulde abyde with the Vycount. c1530― Arth. Lyt. Brit. 493, I am angry wyth nothynge but with that Florence shold thus escape us. 1557North Gueuara's Diall Pr. xx. 36 This shalbe sene by that they succour the poore.
d. In periphrastic construction, following a clause of the form it is (was, etc.) + an adv. or advb. phr., to which emphasis is given by the periphrasis: see it 4 d. (The sense may be less emphatically expressed by omitting it is (was, etc.) and that, e.g. [It was] here [that] he fell.) Cf. Onions Advanced Eng. Syntax §15 a, 6.
Beowulf 1362 Nis þæt feor heonen mil-ᵹe-mearces þæt se mere stanðeð. a1250, etc. [see it 4 d]. 1470–85Malory Arthur vi. viii. 194 Thou arte..lyke on knyȝt that I hate,..so be hit that thou be not he I wyl lyghtly accorde with the. 1672Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 219 Therefore it is that they are agrieved. 1736Mrs. Manley Secret Mem. II. 116 It is not always that we ought to judge by Appearances. 1780Mirror No. 77 ⁋6 It is owing to this circumstance, that a general lover seldom forms an attachment to any particular object. 1814Wordsw. Yarrow Visited 25 Where was it that the famous Flower Of Yarrow Vale lay bleeding? 1875J. Croll Climate & T. 467 It is seldom that the geologist has an opportunity of seeing a complete section. 1877C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iii. xv. 140 It was for his own supremacy that he fought. 1890Sir C. S. C. Bowen in Law Times Rep. LXIII. 735/1 It was because he failed to prove this that his case broke down.
e. Introducing an exclamatory clause (with or without a preceding interjection or interj. phr.) expressing some emotion, usually (now always) sorrow, indignation, or the like. (Now usually with should.)
Some of those with interj. or interj. phr. may be regarded as belonging to 2: cf. ‘I am sorry that..’, also quot. 1535 in 2.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. ix, Eala þæt nanwuht nis fæste stondendes weorces. c1315Shoreham v. 223 O þat hy were blyþe, þo hye here seȝen So glorious alyue. a1350in Hampole's Wks. (1895) I. 345 Whan Adam sauȝ hym comen, lord, þat he was glade! Ibid. II. 360 Lord, þat þe was wo bigon in þat ilke tyde! c1440Jacob's Well 125 Allas, þat euer gadryd I monye on hepe, to trustyn þere-vpon. c1460Towneley Myst. iv. 195 A, Lord, that I shuld abide this day! 1470–85Malory Arthur xiii. viii. 623 Allas sayd she that euer I sawe you. 1604Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 291 Oh, that men should put an Enemie in their mouthes, to steale away their Braines? 1610― Temp. i. ii. 67 That a brother should Be so perfidious. 1819Shelley Cenci i. ii. 54 Great God! that such a father should be mine! Mod. That it should ever come to this! That he should turn against us, after all his professions of friendship!
II.
2. a. Introducing a clause expressing the cause, ground, or reason of what is stated in the principal clause. (See also 1 b, e.)
In OE. often þǽs (þe), gen. of þæt. For ellipsis of that, see 10.
c1205Lay. 9375 He wes glæd Þat his ifon weoren dæd. 13..Sir Beues (A.) 4059 Beues was glad, þat he was come. c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1477 Þat þou art as thou art, god þanke and herie. 1445in Anglia XXVIII. 273 Men..Merveileth þat thou so lowly art. 1533Bellenden Livy ii. xi. (S.T.S.) I. 169 For þe commoun pepill reiosit þat þe wolchis war cummyn. 1535Coverdale Ps. cxix. [cxx.] 5 Wo is me, yt my banishment endureth so longe. 1611Bible Isa. lxiii. 5, I wondered that there was none to vphold. 1810Crabbe Borough xviii. 208 Men..bless their God that time has fenced their heart. 1827Hallam Const. Hist. I. 697 His sincerity in this was the less suspected, that his wife..was entirely presbyterian. 1842Macaulay in Life & Lett. (1876) II. 114, I should be very sorry that it were known. 1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede xxxv, Mrs. Poyser was quite agreeably surprised that Hetty wished to go and see Dinah. 1866Reade G. Gaunt (ed. 2) II. 14 She..thought of them all the more that she was discouraged from enlarging on them.
(b) Also in constructions now obs. or arch.
a1000Andreas 276 (Gr.) Bið þe meorð wið god, þæt þu us on lade liðe weorðe. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xvi. 8 Hwæt þence ᵹe betwux eow..þæt [Rushw. forþon þæt] ᵹe hlafas nabbað? 13..Coer de L. 831 Sche..Wrong her handes that sche was born. c1555Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (Camden) 270 Then is there a quarrel picked against the Popes that they made such restraints. 1567Allen Def. Priesthood 352 And S. Augustin excommunicated County Bonifacius that he tooke from the Churche an offender. a1657R. Loveday Lett. (1663) 83 Honest J. is ready to beat his wife that she forces his promise to so slothful a performance. 1790Cowper Let. 27 Feb., I am crazed that I cannot ask you all together. 1829Carlyle in For. Rev. & Cont. Misc. IV. 109 Neither should we censure Novalis that he dries his tears.
b. not that.. (ellipt.): = ‘I do not say this because..’; or ‘It is not the fact that..’, ‘One must not suppose that..’ (sense 1): see not adv. 6 a.
1601[see not adv. 6 a]. 1681Dryden Abs. & Achit. 381 Such virtue's only given to guide a throne. Not that your father's mildness I contemn. 1878T. Hardy Ret. Native i. ix, Where is she staying now? Not that I care. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 185 Not that a particle of this substance is annihilated.
3. a. Introducing a clause expressing purpose, end, aim, or desire: with simple subjunctive (arch.), or with may (pa. tense might), should, rarely shall.
Formerly also preceded by as (as B. 21 b). See also may v.1 B. 8 a. The meaning is now more fully expressed by in order that: see order n. 29. After will, wish, pray, beseech, and the like, the function of that seems to combine senses 1 and 3.
a900tr. Bæda's Hist. ii. xi. [xiv.] §1 Þær se biscop oft..wæs, þæt he fulwade þæt folc in Swalwan streame. c1000Ags. Gosp. Mark xiv. 38, ᵹebiddað þæt ᵹe on costnunge ne gan. a1018O.E. Chron. an. 1009, We ᵹyt næfdon þa ᵹeselða..þæt seo scipfyrd nytt wære ðisum earde. a1200Moral Ode 313 Ac drihte crist he ȝiue us strencþe, stonde þat we mote. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3742 Ȝyf þou ȝaue euer cunsel or rede For yre, þat a man were dede. c1410Love Bonavent. Mirr. (1908) 106 Besy that al thing were wele and couenably done. c1440Jacob's Well 121 Turne þi face fro no pore man, þat god turne noȝt his face fro þe. 1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing x. ⁋8 This cutting down..is made..that the Cramp-Irons..joggle not on either side off the Ribs. 1683Trial Ld. Russell in Lady R.'s Lett. (1807) p. xlvi, We pray for the King that the challenge may be over-ruled. 1708Lond. Gaz. No. 4454/3 This is to Advertise all Persons, that they do not lend her any Mony. a1774Goldsm. Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776) I. 75 The bones of animals..calcined in such a manner as that all their oil should be exhausted. 1816J. Wilson City of Plague i. ii. 67 Give me one look, That I may see his face so beautiful. 1874A. J. Christie in Ess. Rel. & Lit. Ser. iii. 50 Christ.. had prayed that Peter's faith should not fail.
†b. Introducing a parenthetic clause of purpose. Obs. (Now expressed by the inf., e.g. ‘that we speak of no more’ = to speak of no more.)
13..Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 221 Hit beoþ þreo tymes on þo day, Þat soþe to witen me mai. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 1 Synods & Church-maintenance (that we speake of no more things of this kinde) should be as safe as a Sanctuary.
c. In exclamations of desire or longing: with verb in subjunctive.
Now always with vb. in pa. subj. (indicating improbability of fulfilment), usually with preceding interj. (see also O int.), also (arch.) with would or would God (sense 1: see would s.v. will v.). Formerly also with vb. in pres. subj. (indicating possibility of fulfilment), where that is now omitted. In quot. 13.. expressing a command (that he war = let him be).
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6189 A duc þer was..Þat was traytour..þat god ȝiue him ssame. 13..Seuyn Sag. 651 Goth, he seigh, to the prisone, And fechcheth forht mine sone, And quik that he war an-honge. c1350Will. Palerne 2795 God mowe we þonk, & oure worþi werwolf þat wel him by-tyde. 1535[see O int.]. 1618Corbet Poems (1807) 99 O that I ere might have the hap To get the bird which in the map Is called the Indian Ruck! 1790Cowper Rec. Mother's Picture 1 Oh that those lips had language! 1850Tennyson In Mem. xli, Deep folly! yet that this could be—That I could wing my will with might [etc.]. 1855― Maud ii. iv. i, O that 'twere possible..To find the arms of my true love Round me once again!
d. Introducing a clause expressing a hypothetical desired result: with verb in subjunctive or its equivalent.
[1601: see 10.] 1610Shakes. Temp. v. i. 150 Oh heauens, that they were liuing both in Naples The King and Queene there, that they were, I wish My selfe were mudded in that oozie bed. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 114, I would give a thousand pounds that he may prove the man. 1821Byron Wks. (1835) V. 216, I would gladly have given a much greater sum..that he had never been hurt. 1861G. W. Dasent Burnt Njal II. 118, I would give all my goods that it had never happened.
4. Introducing a clause expressing the result or consequence of what is stated in the principal clause: with verb usually in indicative.
a. With antecedent so or such, either in the principal clause, or immediately before that in the dependent clause (see so, such).
Also (arch.) preceded by as: see as B. 19 c. For ellipsis of that, see 10.
c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xiii. 54 He lærde hiᵹ..swa þæt hiᵹ wundredon. a1300Cursor M. 9730 Sa wel i am ya luued wit þe Þat þi wisdom man clepes me. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 419 Men lyueþ so longe in þat hurste, Þat þe eldest deiȝeþ furst. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iv. 119 So longe they rode..that they came there as they were borne. 1564P. Martyr Comm. Judges 272 To aske, not in deede so apertely that his voice should be hearde. 1667Milton P.L. To Rdr., This neglect..of Rime so little is to be taken for a defect,..that it rather is to be esteem'd an example. 1705Farquhar Twin-Rivals i. ii, The poor Creature is so big with her Misfortunes, that they are not to be born. 1731Gentl. Mag. I. 391/1 This put Bluster into such a Passion, that he quitted the Surgery in a pet. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 85 He was a man of morals so bad that his own relations shrank from him.
b. Simply, without antecedent: = so that. arch.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 27 Þe deofel..rixat in-nan him þet he nulle nefre forleten his sunne. c1205Lay. 1867 Forð com Corineus..þat alle hit bi-heolden. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2690 Þun king hii bounde uaste ynou þat reulich he gan crie. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiv. 64 Heuene was yclosed, Þat no reyne ne rone. 1470–85Malory Arthur xvi. xvii. 687 Thenne were they sore affrayed that they felle bothe to the erthe. 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 136 b, Suche as bee naught I byte, that thei smart again. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. v. i. 65 Then I'ld shrieke, that euen your eares Should rift to heare me. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. v. 96 The fear..made me that I never slept. 1858G. Macdonald Phantastes xix, I struck one more sturdy blow..that the forest rang. 1868Tennyson Lucretius 66 A fire..scorch'd me that I woke.
c. Introducing a clause expressing a fact (with vb. in indic.), or a supposition (with vb. in subj.), as a consequence attributed to the cause indicated by the principal clause (which is most commonly interrogative): sometimes nearly = in consequence of which; or (with indic.) = since, seeing that.
c1000ælfric Exod. v. 2 Hwæt ys se drihten, þæt ic hym hiran scile and Israela folc forlætan? c1205Lay. 30280 Whæt is þe..þat þu swa wepest to-dæi? c1420Chron. Vilod. 2769 What deseysse is come þe to Þat þou art now so sorwefulle? 1535Coverdale Ps. viii. 4 Oh what is man, yt thou art so myndfull of him? Ibid. cxiii. [cxiv.] 5 What ayled the (o thou see) that thou fleddest? 1591Shakes. Two Gent. iv. ii. 40 Who is Silvia? what is she? That all our Swaines commend her? 1598― Merry W. i. iv. 43, I doubt he be not well, that hee comes not home. 1611Bible Isa. liii. 2 There is no beautie that we should desire him. 1787Cowper Stanzas Bill Mortality 8 Did famine or did plague prevail, That so much death appears? 1842Tennyson Lady Clare vi, Are ye out of your mind..that ye speak so wild? 1885Sat. Rev. 21 Feb. 242/2 We are not pigeons that we should eat dry peas.
5. With a negative in the dependent clause (the principal clause having also a negative expressed or implied): = But that, but (= L. quin): see but conj. 12. (Now expressed by without with gerund: e.g. in quot. 1809, ‘without her hearing’.)
Quots. c 1320, 1375 may belong to that rel. pron. 8.
c1000ælfric Saints' Lives (1885) I. 378 Man ᵹecwæman ne mæᵹ twam hlafordum æt-somne þæt he ne forseo þone oðerne. c1290Beket 2128 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 167 For ȝwane men peyntiez an halewe, ȝe ne seoth it nouȝt bi-leued Þat þere nis depeint a Roundel al-a-boute þe heued. c1320Cast. Love 6 Ne neuer was wrouȝt non vuel þing Þat vuel þouȝt nas þe biginnyng. 1375Barbour Bruce xvi. 280 Thar is no man That he ne will rew vp-on voman. c1440Alphabet of Tales 293 A long tyme sho mot nowder luke on þe crucifyx nor speke..of þe Passion..þatte nevur sho fell in swone as sho had bene dead. 1773Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. v, I never attempted to be impudent yet, that I was not taken down. 1809Southey Let. to Lieut. Southey 19 Sept., He never turned in his bed during that whole time that she did not hear. 1837S. R. Maitland Six Lett., etc. 69, I have hardly ever..turned it over for five minutes, that some gross error has not presented itself.
6. a. Added to relatives or dependent interrogatives (who, which, what, when, where, how, why, etc.). † Also after the demonstrative advbs. then, there, etc., when used as relatives. Obs. or arch.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xvi. §2, ᵹif ᵹe nu ᵹesawan hwelce mus þæt wære hlaford ofer oðre mys. 13..Cursor M. 1247 (Cott.) Yai, sir, wist i wyderward [v.r. queþirward] þat [v.r. þere] tat vncuth contre were. c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. Prol. 36 Euery wyght wheche þat to rome wente. c1386― Prol. 41 To telle yow..in what array that they were Inne. ― Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 17 And in myn herte to wondren I bigan What þat he was. 14..in Hist. Coll. Citizen London (Camden) 112 Faste be-syde ther that the batelle was done. 1450Rolls of Parlt. V. 202/1 In whos handes that ever they were founde. c1465Eng. Chron. (Camden) 98 A wommanne the whiche that knewe hym. 1470–85Malory Arthur xvii. xxii. 723 Wotest thou wherfor that he hath sente me? 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iii. ii. 96 When that the poore haue cry'de, Cæsar hath wept. 1613― Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 32 Wherein was read How that the Cardinall did intreat his Holinesse [etc.]. a1814Spaniards iv. i. in New Brit. Theatre III. 234 When that the crown..shall bind the brows Of my unnatural brother.
†b. That alone had formerly the force of ‘when that’, ‘when’, after hardly, scarcely, or some equivalent. So † just that (quot. 1648) = just when, just as. now that: see now 12 b.
13..Cursor M. 8160 Vnnethes had he moned his mode, Þat [v.r. quen] a lem fra þe wandes stode. a1380St. Ambrosius 488 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 16/1 Vnneþe Ambrose and his meyne, Weoren passed out from þat citee Þat sodeynliche opened þe eorþe. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. ccvii. 189 The kyng had not yet fullych eten that ther come in to the halle another messagyer. 1530–[see now 12 b]. 1648Cromwell in Carlyle Lett. & Sp. (1871) II. 56 Until just that we came. 1780Mirror No. 95 ⁋1 We spent our time as happily as possible, till about half a year ago, that my ill stars directed me to [etc.].
7. Formerly added with a conjunctive force to various words that are now commonly used conjunctionally without it; e.g. because, if, lest, only, the adv., though, till, while (see these words). arch. or Obs.
(Cf. the OE. similar use of þe; also prec. sense.)
c1200[see if 5]. a1300Cursor M. 14458 Bot al þat he wit luue þam soght, Enentis þe Iuus al was for noght. Ibid. 22167 Þai sal be studiand in þair thoght, Queþer þat he be crist or nai. 1505in Mem. Hen. VII (Rolls) 267 The kynge..remembrithe that mater as efectually as that hit were his aune proper cause. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. i. 30 The knight..Who faire him quited, as that courteous was. 1602Dolman La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1618) III. 736 The property thereof is to mount alwaies vpwards, vntill that it hath attained to the place destinated vnto it. 1656A. Wright Five Serm. 201 The reason is, cause that Ordinances are nothing without the Lord. 1800Coleridge Lett. (1895) 325 As to my schemes of residence, I am as unfixed as yourself, only that we are under the absolute necessity of fixing somewhere. 1805tr. Lafontaine's Hermann & Emilia III. 97 Hermann likewise trembled, because that their early friendship was awakened in his breast.
8. Used (like Fr. que) as a substitute instead of repeating a previous conjunction, or conjunctive adverb or phrase. Now rare or arch.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 17 Þenne were þu wel his freond..Gif þu hine iseȝe þet he wulle asottie to þes deofles hond..þet þu hine lettest, and wiðstewest. c1489Caxton Blanchardyn xix. 58 When they..had seen the manere & the rewle of their enemyes, and that all wyth leyser they had seen their puyssance. Ibid. 59 So began he to be..all annoyed of hym self by cause he was not armed tyl his plesure, and that he myght not yssue out. c1520Barclay Sallust 55 Whan he had assayed many wayes, and that nothing came to purpose. 1535Coverdale Esther ii. 14 She must come vnto the kynge nomore, excepte it pleased the kynge, and that he caused her to be called by name. 1569J. Sandford tr. Agrippa's Van. Artes 174 b, When sleepe falleth vpon men, & that they be in bed. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 9 Since he stands obdurate, And that no lawful meanes can carrie me Out of his enuies reach. [Also 27 other examples.] 1611Bible 1 Chron. xiii. 2 If it seeme good vnto you, and that it be of the Lord our God, let vs send abroad vnto our brethren. [Coverd. Yf..yf...] ― Job xxxi. 38 If my land cry against me, or that the furrowes likewise thereof complaine. [Coverd. Yf case be that..or yt...] 1655M. Casaubon Enthus. (1656) 126 Because I desire not to be over-long, and that I would not glut the Reader. 1700Tyrrell Hist. Eng. II. 823 So soon as the Death of King John was..known, and that the Earls..could agree where to meet. 1797Burke Regic. Peace iii. Wks. VIII. 330 When one of the parties to a treaty intrenches himself..in..ceremonies,..and that all the concessions are upon one side. 1829Sir W. Napier Penins. War ix. iii. (Rtldg.) II. 16 Although the rear was attacked,..and that 50 men..were captured.
†9. After a comparative: = than. (Cf. Fr. que.) Obs. rare. (See also the particle 1 b.)
c1305St. Kenelm 108 in E. Eng. P. (1862) 50 For noman nemai þan oþer bet trecherie do Þat [Laud MS. þane] þulke þat is him next, & he trist mest to. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 10602 More worschip of hym [Arthur] spoke þer was Þat of any of þo þat spekes Gildas. 1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 175 He had Slayne by trayson two prynces bettyr that he was. c1450Lovelich Grail xlviii. 35 And but þe holyere man he be þat I konne wit, Elles schal there non Man here syt.
¶10. The conjunction that is very frequently omitted by ellipsis, esp. in sense 1.
(The omission prob. began with the rel. conj. þe, the.)
a1250–1650 [see it 4 b]. a1300Cursor M. 3665 (Cott.), I dred me sare, for benison He sal me giue his malison. 1390Gower Conf. I. 263 Joab..slowh Abner, for drede he scholde be [etc.]. c1460Towneley Myst. ix. 137 Go grete hym well,..say hym I com. 1526Tindale Jas. ii. 14 Though a man saye he hath fayth. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. v. 37 Direct mine Armes, I may embrace his Neck. 1599― Hen. V, v. i. 54 Thou dost see I eate. 1601― All's Well ii. iii. 66 I'de giue bay curtall, and his furniture My mouth no more were broken then these boyes. 1611Bible Luke xx. 13 It may bee they will reuerence him. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. 3, I think I do. 1737Pope Hor. Ep. ii. ii. 266 There are who have not—and thank heav'n there are. 1805Scott Last Minstr. vi. xxv, So bright, so red the glare, The castle seemed on flame. 1847Tennyson Princess vii. 281, I fear They will not. a1912Mod. We were sorry you couldn't come.
III. 11. ‘that’-clause: a clause introduced by the word ‘that’ (as conjunction or, less commonly, as relative pronoun).
1955J. L. Austin How to do Things with Words (1962) vi. 70 Although we have in this type of utterance a ‘that’ clause following a verb..we must not allude to this as ‘indirect speech’. 1964E. Bach Introd. Transformational Gram. v. 102 The rules for that clauses..must be made less general. 1978Language LIV. 67 None of the (a) sentences would be appropriate if the proposition expressed in the that-clause were part of the undisputed background of already-held belief common to all the participants in the conversation. |