Since

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɪns/
• Rhymes: -ɪns

Origin

From Middle English syns, sinnes, contraction of earlier sithens, sithence, from sithen ("after", "since") ( + -s, adverbial genitive suffix), from Old English sīþþan, from the phrase sīþ þǣm ("after/since that (time)"), from sīþ ("since", "after") + þǣm dative singular of þæt. Cognate with Dutch sinds ("since"), German seit ("since"), Danish siden ("since").

Full definition of since

Adverb

1. From a specified time in the past.
   I had seen him previously, but hadn't seen him since.

Preposition

1. From (time).
   I have known her since last year.
• 2012, April 19, Josh Halliday, Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?, "Mujtahidd" has attracted almost 300,000 followers since the end of last year, when he began posting scandalous claims about the Saudi elite. In one tweet, Mujtahidd directly challenged Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd about his political history: "Did you resign or were you forced to resign from your post as head of the diwan office of the council of ministers?"
• 2013-06-29, Unspontaneous combustion, Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.

Antonyms

• until

Conjunction

1. From the time that.
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients, He had one hand on the bounce bottle—and he'd never let go of that since he got back to the table—but he had a handkerchief in the other and was swabbing his deadlights with it.
• 2013, Simson Garfinkel, Digital Forensics, Since the 1980s, computers have had increasing roles in all aspects of human life—including an involvement in criminal acts. This development has led to the rise of digital forensics, the uncovering and examination of evidence located on all things electronic with digital storage, including computers, cell phones, and networks.
2. I have loved you since I first met you.
3. Because.
• 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess, The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen....The second note, the high alarum, not so familiar and always important since it indicates the paramount sin in Man's private calendar, took most of them by surprise although they had been well prepared.
4. Since you didn't call, we left without you.
5. (obsolete) When or that.
• William ShakespeareDo you remember since we lay all night in the windmill in St. George's field?

Anagrams

• nices, *nices, scien