By dint of

Posted by TheFallen on March 27, 2003

In Reply to: By dint of posted by Shae on March 27, 2003

: : When learning french at A- level we leanrt a phrase that ment "by dint of".

: : What does it mean??

: By means of, by use of. From Old English 'dynt.'

Yes this is effectively what it means, but I think it has more of an aggressive or active connotation. Dint, which is only nowadays used in the phrase "by dint of" is more synonymous with force or effort than just means or use.