either

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See also: eiþer

English

Etymology

From Middle English either, from Old English ǣġhwæþer, from Proto-Germanic, ultimately corresponding to ay (“always, ever”) + whether. Akin to Old Saxon eogihwethar, iahwethar (Low German jeed); Old Dutch *iogewether, *iowether, *iother (Dutch ieder); Old High German eogihwedar, iegihweder, ieweder (German jeder).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: īth′ə(r), ēth′ə(r), IPA(key): /ˈaɪð.ə(ɹ)/, /ˈiːð.ə(ɹ)/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪðə(ɹ), -iːðə(ɹ)
  • In the UK, /aɪ/ is used more in Southern England, and /iː/ is more usual in Northern England. In North America, /iː/ is the most common, but /aɪ/ is predominant in some regions. Note that even if one pronunciation is more common in a region, the pronunciation used varies by individual speaker and sometimes by situation.

Determiner

either

  1. Any one (of two).
    You can have it in either colour.
  2. Each of two; both. [from 9th c.]
    There is a locomotive at either end of the train, one pulling and the other pushing.
    • (Can we date this quote by John Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      His flowing hair / In curls on either cheek played.
    • 1936, Djuna Barnes, Nightwood, Faber & Faber 2007, page 31:
      Her hands, long and beautiful, lay on either side of her face.
  3. (now rare) Any one (of more than two).
    • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, Letter 51:
      They entreat, they pray, they beg, they supplicate (will either of these do, Miss Clary?) that you will make no scruple to go to your uncle Antony's […].

Usage notes

  • When there are more than two alternatives, in the sense of “one of many”, any is now generally used instead.

Synonyms

Translations

Pronoun

either

  1. One or other of two people or things.
    He made me two offers, but I did not accept either.
    • 2013, Daniel Taylor, Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban, The Guardian, 6 September:
      Hodgson may now have to bring in James Milner on the left and, on that basis, a certain amount of gloss was taken off a night on which Welbeck scored twice but barely celebrated either before leaving the pitch angrily complaining to the Slovakian referee.
  2. (obsolete) Both, each of two or more.
    • (Can we date this quote by Francis Bacon and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Scarce a palm of ground could be gotten by either of the three.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
      And either vowd with all their power and wit, / To let not others honour be defaste […]
    • (Can we date this quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      There have been three talkers in Great British, either of whom would illustrate what I say about dogmatists.

Adverb

either (not comparable)

  1. (conjunctive, after a negative) As well.
    I don't like him, and I don't like her either.
    • 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
      But Richmond […] appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw […] that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either.

Usage notes

After a positive statement, too is commonly used: “I like him, and I like her too.”

Either is sometimes used, especially in North American English, where neither would be more traditionally accurate: “I’m not hungry.” “Me either.”

Translations

Conjunction

either

  1. Introduces the first of two (or occasionally more) options or possibilities, the second (or last) of which is introduced by “or”.
    Either you eat your dinner or you go to your room.
    You can have either potatoes or rice with that, but not both.
    You'll be either early, late, or on time.
    • 2006 December 5, Jackie Mason, quotee, “Mason drops lawsuit vs. Jews for Jesus”, in USA Today:
      You can't be a table and a chair. You're either a Jew or a gentile.
    • 1893, Walter Besant, “Prologue”, in The Ivory Gate:
      Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language […] his clerks […] understood him very well. If he had written a love letter, or a farce, or a ballade, or a story, no one, either clerks, or friends, or compositors, would have understood anything but a word here and a word there.

Translations

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See also

References

Anagrams

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old English ǣġþer, a contraction of ǣġhwæþer.

Pronunciation

Determiner

either

  1. Both of two.
  2. Each of two.
  3. Either of two.

Descendants

  • Scots: aither
  • English: either

Pronoun

either

  1. Both of two members of a group.
  2. Each of two members of a group.
  3. Either of two members of a group.

Descendants

Adjective

either

  1. Both, all, or any of a set.
  2. Each of a group.

See also

References

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