either

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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

either

/ˈaɪ.ðə/ UK
/ˈiː.ðə/ UK
/ˈɑjðə/ British, Southern, Standard
/ˈɪjðə/ British, Southern, Standard
/ˈaɪ.ðɚ/ US
/ˈi.ðɚ/ US
[ˈiɾə]
[ˈaɪɾə]
/ˈɑj.d̪ə(r)/ India, North
/ˈi.d̪ə(r)/ India, North
/ˈeɪ.ðə(ɹ)/ Northern England, rare
/ˈɛj.d̪ə(r)/ India, South

Rhymes with -aɪðə(ɹ), -iːðə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

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.

determiner

Any one (of two). You can have it in either colour.
Each of two; both. There is a locomotive at either end of the train, one pulling and the other pushing.
often, proscribed Any one (of more than two). I hope you will be ready to own publicly, whenever you shall be called to it, that by your great and frequent urgency you prevailed on me to publish a very loose and uncorrect account of my travels, with directions to hire some young gentleman of either university to put them in order, and correct t

pronoun

One or the other of two people or things. He made me two offers, but I did not accept either.
obsolete Both, each of two or more. Scarce a palm of ground could be gotten by either of the three.

adverb

conjunctive, not comparable, after a negative As well. I don't like him, and I don't like her either.

conjunction

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.
Similar: whether

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: moreover, also, furthermore, anymore, some, whatsoever, too, alternatively, any, already, yet, that, namely, even, more, likewise

Translations

Every language

det each of two

Español	cada
Português	ambos, qualquer um
Français	chaque, les deux, l'un ou l'autre
Deutsch	beide
Italiano	ciascuno, entrambi, ogni
Ελληνικά	είτε eíte
Română	fiecare, amândoi
Русский	ка́ждый káždyj

adv (after a negative) as well

Español	tampoco
中文	也不 yěbù
Português	também não, tampouco
Français	non plus
Deutsch	auch, ebenso, ebenfalls
Italiano	neanche, nemmeno, neppure
Ελληνικά	ούτε oúte
Română	nici
Русский	та́кже не tákže ne
العربية	أَيْضًا ʔayḍan, كَذٰلِكَ ka-ḏālika

conj introduces the first of two options

Español	o... o, ya sea... o, bien... o, o bien... o bien, bien... bien, ahora... ahora
한국어	...든지 ...든지 ...deunji ...-deunji, ...든 ...든 ...deun ...-deun
日本語	…か…か -ka ...-ka
中文	或者……或者…… huòzhě ... huòzhě ..., 要麼……要麼…… /要么……要么…… yàome ... yàome ...
Português	ou ... ou
Français	ou, soit, soit ... ou
Deutsch	entweder, entweder ... oder
Italiano	o, oppure
Ελληνικά	είτε ... είτε eíte ... eíte
Русский	и́ли ... и́ли íli ... íli, ли́бо ... ли́бо líbo ... líbo
Tiếng Việt	hoặc … hoặc
العربية	إِمَّا ... إِمَّا ʔimmā ... ʔimmā

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MLA

"either." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/either. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

either. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/either

Chicago

"either." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/either.

BibTeX

@misc{either_2026,
  title = {either},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/either},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}