since

S1I1N1C3E1
/sɪn(t)s/

adverb

From a specified time in the past.

“A short/long time since”

Opposite
Very commonScrabble 7

Meanings

adverbsince (not comparable)

alternative archaic sence

  1. not comparableFrom a specified time in the past.

    A short/long time since

    1 more example

    I met him last year, but haven't seen him since.

preposition

alternative archaic sence

  1. From: referring to a period of time ending in the present and defining it by the point in time at which it started, or the period in which its starting point occurred.
    1. Continuously during that period of time.

      I'd been working since six o’clock, and I was getting tired.

      3 more examples

      I'd known her only since the previous year, so from/since the moment we got married we’ve quarrelled.

      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.

      2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 29

      Since the 1980s, computers have had increasing roles in all aspects of human life—including an involvement in criminal acts.

      2013 September-October, Simson Garfinkel, “Digital Forensics”, in American Scientist
    2. At certain points during that period of time.

      "Mujtahidd" has attracted almost 300,000 followers since the end of last year, when he began posting scandalous claims about the Saudi elite.

      2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in the Guardian
conjunction

alternative archaic sence

  1. From the time that.

    I have loved you since I first met you.

    3 more examples

    I've known her since I've lived in her street, but I've not seen her out of the house since her husband died.

    Since leaving school, I've completely changed.

    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.

    1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

    Synonyms: sithen

  2. Because.

    Since you didn't call, we left without you.

    2 more examples

    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.

    1963, Margery Allingham, “Eye Witness”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 249

    Since disbursement is the last step in the process of creating a mortgage instrument, the disbursement date may lag the transaction date by a considerable period.

    1970, Jack M. Guttentag, “New Series on Home Mortgage Yields Since 1951, Volume 92”, in National Bureau of Economic Research, page 132

    Synonyms: sith

  3. obsoleteWhen or that.

    O ſir Iohn, doe you remember ſince wee lay all night in the Winde-mill, in S Georges field.

    c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 87, column 2

Synonyms & antonyms

conjunctionFrom the time that.

Similar

conjunctionBecause.

Similar
Opposite
Similar
Opposite

Origin

  1. Old Englishsīþþan
  2. Middle Englishsyns
  3. Englishsince

From Middle English syns, synnes, 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”), Icelandic síðan (“since”) Scots syne (“since”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἐκ, ἐπειδή
  • ἐκ (ek)from (time)
  • ἐπειδή (epeidḗ)from the time that
  • γάρ (gár)because
  • ἐπεί (epeí)because
Arabic مُنْذُ, مُنْذُ
  • مُنْذُ (munḏu)from (time)
  • مُنْذُ (munḏu)from the time that
  • لِأَنَّ (liʔanna)because
Bengali অবধি, থেকে
  • অবধি (obodhi)from (time)
  • থেকে (theke)from (time)
  • হতে (hote)from (time)
  • হইতে (hoite)from (time)
Bulgarian оттогава, от
  • оттогава (ottogava)from a specified time in the past
  • от (ot)from (time)
  • откакто (otkakto)from the time that
  • тъй като (tăj kato)because
Catalan de llavors (ençà), d'aleshores (ençà)
  • de llavors (ençà)from a specified time in the past
  • d'aleshores (ençà)from a specified time in the past
  • de ... ençàfrom (time)
  • d'ençà quefrom the time that
  • des quefrom the time that
  • puix quebecause
  • atès quebecause
  • com quebecause
Chinese Mandarin 從那以後 /从那以后, 後來 /后来
  • 從那以後 /从那以后 (cóng nà yǐhòu)from a specified time in the past
  • 後來 /后来 (hòulái)from a specified time in the past
  • 自從 /自从 (zìcóng)from (time)
  • 自 (zì)from (time)
  • 從 /从 (cóng)from (time)
  • 自從 /自从 (zìcóng)from the time that
  • 自 (zì)from the time that
  • 從 /从 (cóng)from the time that
  • 因為 /因为 (yīnwèi)because
  • 由於 /由于 (yóuyú)because
Czech od, od té doby
  • odfrom (time)
  • od té dobyfrom (time)
  • od té dobyfrom the time that
  • protožebecause
  • jelikožbecause
Danish siden, siden
  • sidenfrom a specified time in the past
  • sidenfrom (time)
  • sidenfrom the time that
Dutch sindsdien, sinds
  • sindsdienfrom a specified time in the past
  • sindsfrom (time)
  • sedertfrom (time)
  • sindsfrom the time that
  • sedertfrom the time that
  • aangezienbecause
  • omdatbecause
Esperanto ekde, de kiam
  • ekdefrom a specified time in the past
  • de kiamfrom a specified time in the past
  • ekdefrom (time)
  • depostfrom (time)
  • ĉarbecause
Estonian alates, saadik
  • alatesfrom (time)
  • saadikfrom (time)
  • saatifrom (time)
  • pealefrom (time)
Finnish sen jälkeen, siitä lähtien
  • sen jälkeenfrom a specified time in the past
  • siitä lähtienfrom a specified time in the past
  • lähtienfrom (time)
  • siitä lähtien, kunfrom the time that
  • sen jälkeen, kunfrom the time that
  • koskabecause
  • silläbecause
French depuis, depuis
  • depuisfrom a specified time in the past
  • depuisfrom (time)
  • depuis quefrom the time that
  • puisquebecause
  • vu quebecause
  • étant donné quebecause
German seitdem, seither
  • seitdemfrom a specified time in the past
  • seitherfrom a specified time in the past
  • seitfrom (time)
  • seitdemfrom the time that
  • seitfrom the time that
  • weilbecause
  • dabecause
Greek από τότε, από
  • από τότε (apó tóte)from a specified time in the past
  • από (apó)from (time)
  • εδώ και (edó kai)from (time)
  • από τότε που (apó tóte pou)from the time that
  • έκτοτε (éktote)from the time that
  • αφού (afoú)because
  • επειδή (epeidí)because
  • μια και (mia kai)because
Hawaiian mahope mai, no ka mea
  • mahope maifrom (time)
  • no ka meabecause
Hebrew מאז
  • מאז (me'áz)from (time)
Hindi ... से
  • ... सेfrom (time)
Hungarian azóta, óta
  • azótafrom a specified time in the past
  • ótafrom (time)
  • miótafrom the time that
  • amiótafrom the time that
  • mivelbecause
  • minthogybecause
Icelandic síðan
  • síðanfrom (time)
Indonesian sejak, dari
  • sejakfrom (time)
  • darifrom (time)
  • mulaifrom (time)
  • sejak darifrom (time)
  • mulai darifrom (time)
  • karenabecause
Irish ó, ó
  • ófrom (time)
  • ófrom the time that
  • óbecause
Italian da allora, da
  • da allorafrom a specified time in the past
  • dafrom (time)
  • a partire dafrom (time)
  • da quandofrom the time that
  • dacchéfrom the time that
  • siccomebecause
  • poichébecause
  • giacchébecause
  • dacchébecause
  • visto chebecause
  • dato chebecause
Japanese …以来, …から
  • …以来 (...irai)from (time)
  • …から (...kara)from (time)
  • …よりfrom (time)
  • …から (...kara)from the time that
  • …よりfrom the time that
  • …ので (…node)because
  • …ためbecause
  • ……によりbecause
  • …によって (…ni yotte)because
  • …から (…kara)because
Korean 부터, 후
  • 부터 (buteo)from (time)
  • 후 (hu)from (time)
Latin ab eō tempore, abhinc
  • ab eō temporefrom a specified time in the past
  • abhincfrom (time)
  • abfrom (time)
  • afrom (time)
  • postquamfrom the time that
  • ex quō temporefrom the time that
  • quoniambecause
  • quippe quībecause
Latvian kopš tā laika, kopš
  • kopš tā laikafrom a specified time in the past
  • kopšfrom (time)
  • kopšfrom the time that
  • tā kābecause
Lithuanian nuo, kadangi
  • nuofrom (time)
  • kadangibecause
Malay sejak, sejak
  • sejakfrom (time)
  • sejakfrom the time that
Māori mai rā anō, mai rānō
  • mai rā anōfrom a specified time in the past
  • mai rānōfrom a specified time in the past
  • mai ifrom a specified time in the past
Norwegian fordi, ettersom
  • fordibecause
  • ettersombecause
Norwegian Bokmål siden, siden
  • sidenfrom a specified time in the past
  • sidenfrom (time)
  • sidenfrom the time that
  • sidenbecause
  • dabecause
Persian از, از زمانی که
  • از (az)from (time)
  • از زمانی کهfrom the time that
  • از آنجایی کهbecause
Polish odtąd, od
  • odtądfrom a specified time in the past
  • odfrom (time)
  • od czasu kiedyfrom the time that
  • odkądfrom the time that
  • od kiedyfrom the time that
  • ponieważbecause
  • skorobecause
Portuguese desde, desde então
  • desdefrom a specified time in the past
  • desde entãofrom a specified time in the past
  • desdefrom (time)
  • a partir defrom (time)
  • desde quefrom the time that
  • desde quandofrom the time that
  • já quebecause
  • porquebecause
  • poisbecause
  • visto quebecause
  • uma vez quebecause
  • comobecause
Romanian de atunci, de la
  • de atuncifrom a specified time in the past
  • de lafrom (time)
  • dinfrom (time)
  • de cândfrom the time that
  • deoarecebecause
Russian с, с тех пор как
  • с (s)from (time)
  • с тех пор как (s tex por kak)from the time that
  • поско́льку (poskólʹku)because
  • потому́ что (potomú što)because
  • так как (tak kak)because
Scottish Gaelic o chionn, on a
  • o chionnfrom (time)
  • on afrom the time that
  • oirbecause
  • thoradhbecause
Slovak od
  • odfrom (time)
Spanish desde entonces, desde
  • desde entoncesfrom a specified time in the past
  • desdefrom (time)
  • desde quefrom the time that
  • ya quebecause
  • supuesto quebecause
Swahili tangu, tangu
  • tangufrom (time)
  • tangufrom the time that
Swedish sedan dess, sen dess
  • sedan dessfrom a specified time in the past
  • sen dessfrom a specified time in the past
  • sedanfrom (time)
  • senfrom (time)
  • sedanfrom the time that
  • senfrom the time that
  • dåbecause
Thai ตั้งแต่, ตั้งแต่
  • ตั้งแต่ (dtâng dtàe)from a specified time in the past
  • ตั้งแต่ (dtâng dtàe)from (time)
  • ตั้งแต่ครั้ง (dtâng dtàe kráng)from the time that
  • เนื่องจาก (nêuang jàak)because
Turkish beri, beri
  • berifrom (time)
  • berifrom the time that
  • -denbecause
  • içinbecause
Ukrainian відто́ді, відтоді́
  • відто́ді (vidtódi)from a specified time in the past
  • відтоді́ (vidtodí)from a specified time in the past
  • з (z)from (time)
  • від (vid)from (time)
  • відто́ді (vidtódi)from the time that
  • тому́ (tomú)because
  • так як (tak jak)because
Urdu ... سے
  • ... سےfrom (time)
Vietnamese từ, từ khi
  • từfrom (time)
  • từ khifrom (time)
  • kể từ lúcfrom the time that
Welsh ers hynny, ers
  • ers hynnyfrom a specified time in the past
  • ersfrom (time)
  • erfrom (time)
  • ersfrom the time that
  • erfrom the time that
  • ganbecause
Yiddish זינט
  • זינט (zint)from the time that

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with since

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

centsscentssense (pin–pen merger)centsscentssense (pin–pen merger)centsscentssense (pin–pen merger)

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

since. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/since

MLA

“since.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/since. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “since,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/since.

Source: since on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.