English Explanatory Dictionary

either

English dictionary entry

Meanings

det
  1. Any one (of two).
  2. Each of two; both.
  3. Any one (of more than two).
pron
  1. One or the other of two people or things.
  2. Both, each of two or more.
adv
  1. As well.
conj
  1. Introduces the first of two (or occasionally more) options or possibilities, the second (or last) of which is introduced by “or”.

Pronunciation

ī′thər ē′thər /ˈaɪ.ðə/ /ˈiː.ðə/ en-uk-either.ogg /ˈaɪ.ðɚ/ /ˈi.ðɚ/ en-us-either.ogg /ˈɑj.d̪ə(r)/ /ˈi.d̪ə(r)/ ā′thər /ˈeɪ.ðə(ɹ)/ /ˈɛj.d̪ə(r)/

Word forms

either

Etymology

From Middle English either, from Old English ǣġhwæþer, from Proto-West Germanic *aiw + *gahwaþar. Akin to Old Saxon eogihwethar, iahwethar (Low German jeed); Old Dutch *iogewether, *iowether, *iother (Dutch ieder); Old High German eogihwedar, iegihweder, ieweder (German jeder). The pronunciations with /iː/ and /eɪ/ respectively reflect Middle English forms in /ɛː/ and /æi/; the origin of that with /aɪ/ is less clear, but it may reflect a Middle English form with /iː/; see Middle English either for more discussion.

Related words

neither nor or

Derived words

either do or die either-either either-handed either-or either way either-way offence either … or me either
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on E Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary