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either

   Also found in: Idioms, Wikipedia 0.07 sec.
ei·ther  (r, r)
pron.
The one or the other: Which movie do you want to see? Either will be fine.
conj.
Used before the first of two or more coordinates or clauses linked by or: Either we go now or we remain here forever.
adj.
1. Any one of two; one or the other: Wear either coat.
2. One and the other; each: rings on either hand.
adv.
Likewise; also. Used as an intensive following negative statements: If you don't order a dessert, I won't either.

[Middle English, from Old English ther, ghwæther; see kwo- in Indo-European roots.]
Usage Note: The traditional rule holds that either should be used only to refer to one of two items and that any is required when more than two items are involved: Any (not either) of the three opposition candidates still in the race would make a better president than the incumbent. But reputable writers have often violated this rule, and in any case it applies only to the use of either as a pronoun or an adjective. When either is used as a conjunction, no paraphrase with any is available, and so either is unexceptionable even when it applies to more than two clauses: Either the union will make a counteroffer or the original bid will be refused by the board or the deal will go ahead as scheduled.·In either ... or constructions, the two conjunctions should be followed by parallel elements. The following is regarded as incorrect: You may either have the ring or the bracelet (properly, You may have either the ring or the bracelet). The following is also incorrect: She can take either the examination offered to all applicants or ask for a personal interview (properly, She can either take ... ).·When used as a pronoun, either is singular and takes a singular verb: The two left-wing parties disagree with each other more than either does (not do) with the Right. When followed by of and a plural noun, either is often used with a plural verb: Either of the parties have enough support to form a government. But this usage is widely regarded as incorrect; in an earlier survey it was rejected by 92 percent of the Usage Panel.·When all the elements in an either ... or construction (or a neither ... nor construction) used as the subject of a sentence are singular, the verb is singular: Either Eve or Herb has been invited. Analogously, when all the elements in the either ... or construction are plural, the verb is plural too: Either the Clarks or the Kays have been invited. When the construction mixes singular and plural elements, however, there is some confusion as to which form the verb should take. It has sometimes been suggested that the verb should agree with whichever noun phrase is closest to it; thus one would write Either Eve or the Kays have been invited, but Either the Kays or Eve has been invited. This pattern is accepted by 54 percent of the Usage Panel. Others have maintained that the construction is fundamentally inconsistent whichever number is assigned to the verb and that such sentences should be rewritten accordingly. See Usage Notes at every, neither, or1, they.

either
Adjective, pron
1. one or the other (of two): we were offered either fish or beef
2. both one and the other: we sat at either end of a long settee
conj
used preceding two or more possibilities joined by or: it must be stored either in the fridge or in a cool place
Adverb
1. likewise: I don't eat meat and my husband doesn't either
2. used to qualify or modify a previous statement: he wasn't exactly ugly, he wasn't an oil painting either [Old English ǣgther]
USAGE: Either should be followed by a singular verb: either is good; either of these books is useful. Care should be taken to avoid ambiguity when using either to mean both or each, as in the following sentence: a ship could be moored on either side of the channel. Agreement between the verb and its subject in either...or... constructions follows the pattern given for neither...nor... See at neither.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adv.1.either - after a negative statement used as an intensive meaning something like `likewise' or `also'; "he isn't stupid, but he isn't exactly a genius either"; "I don't know either"; "if you don't order dessert I won't either"
Translations
either [ˈaɪðəʳ] adjcualquiera de los dos ... (= both, each); cada
pron either (of them) → cualquiera (de los dos) advtampoco
conj either yes or no → o sí o no;
on either side → en ambos lados;
I don't like either → no me gusta ninguno de los dos;
no, I don't either → no, yo tampoco

either [ˈaɪðəʳ] adjl'un ou l'autre (= both, each); chaque
pron either (of them) → l'un ou l'autre advnon plus
conj either good or bad → ou bon ou mauvais, soit bon soit mauvais;
I haven't seen either one or the other → je n'ai vu ni l'un ni l'autre;
on either side → de chaque côté;
I don't like either → je n'aime ni l'un ni l'autre;
no, I don't either → moi non plus;
which bike do you want? either will do → quel vélo voulez-vous? n'importe lequel;
answer with either yes or no → répondez par oui ou par non

either [ˈaɪðəʳ] adj (one or other) → eine(r, s) (von beiden);
(both, each) → beide pl, jede(r, s)
pron either (of them) → eine(r, s) (davon) advauch nicht
conj either yes or no → entweder ja oder nein;
on either side (on both sides) → auf beiden Seiten;
(on one or other side) → auf einer der beiden Seiten;
I don't like either → ich mag beide nicht or keinen von beiden;
no, I don't either → nein, ich auch nicht;
I haven't seen either one or the other → ich habe weder den einen noch den anderen gesehen

either [ˈaɪðəʳ] adjl'uno/a o l'altro/a (= both, each); ciascuno/a;
on either side → su ciascun lato pron either (of them) → (o) l'uno(a) o l'altro(a);
I don't like either → non mi piace né l'unol'altro advneanche;
no, I don't either → no, neanch'io conj either good or bad → o buono o cattivo;
I haven't seen either one or the other → non ho vistol'unol'altro

either
pron either [) ˈaiθə, (especially American ) ˈi:ðə(r)]
the one or the other of two You may borrow either of these books; I offered him coffee or tea, but he didn't want either. enige, enige een van die twee إمّا един jeden nebo druhý; žádný den ene eller den anden; nogen af delene eines (von zweien) είτε ο ένας είτε ο άλλος, ούτε ο ένας ούτε ο άλλος cualquiera; ni el uno ni el otro, los dos ninguno de emb-kumb, kumbki یکی یا دیگری؛ یکی از دوتا kumpi tahansa, kumpikaan l'un(e) ou l'autre; l'un(e) et l'autre; ni l'un(e) ni l'autre הָאֶחָד מִבֵּין הַשנָיִים दोनों में से कोई एक oba egyik, valamelyik (a kettő közül) salah satu annar hvor, hvor sem er l'uno o l'altro; entrambi; nessuno dei due, l'uno l'altro どちらか (둘 중의) 어느 한 쪽 vienas iš dviejų, bet kuris viens no diviem; viens vai otrs atau beide hvilken som helst, noen jeden/żaden z dwóch um ou outro oricare (dintre); nici unul любой jeden alebo druhý; obidva; žiadny, nikto, niktorý oba; eden in/ali drugi; ne eden ne drugi bilo koji endera, ettdera, den (det) ena, någondera อย่างใดอย่างหนึ่งในจำนวนสอง ikisinden biri, hangisi olursa (兩者之中)任何一個 той чи той; один з двох دو میں سے کوئی ایک cái này hay cái kia trong hai cái任何
adj
1 the one or the other (of two things, people etc) He can write with either hand. een van twee أيٌ مِنهُما един от двата oba begge jede(-r/-s) (von zweien) ή ο ένας ή ο άλλος los dos, ambos ükskõik kumb هر یک از دو تا kumpikin l'un ou l'autre, l'une ou l'autre; n'importe lequel, laquelle des deux בְּכָל אֶחָד दो में से कोई एक jdan ili drugi akármelyik, bármelyik satu atau lainnya með hvorum sem er; báðir entrambi, l'uno o l'altro どちらかの, どちらの 어느 쪽의 bet kuris abi; kā viens, tā otrs kedua-dua beide den ene eller den andre, begge jeden albo drugi qualquer oricare; amândoi любой (из двух) obaja oba oba båda, bägge, vilken (vilket) som helst อย่างใดอย่างหนึ่ง ikisinden biri; ya o ya da bu (兩者之中)任一的 будь-який ایک یا دوسرے سے cái này hay cái kia trong hai cái
2 the one and the other (of two things, people etc); both at either side of the garden. beide في أيٍّ مِنهُما всеки oba hver beide και οι δύο cada mõlema(d) هر دو kumpikin chaque בְּכָל אֶחָד दो में से कोई एक oba mindkét keduanya báðir, hvor sem er ambedue, entrambi 両方の 양쪽의 abu, kiekvienas abi; katrs dua-dua belah beide den ene eller den andre, begge oba cada fie­care и тот и другой; оба obidva oba oba båda, bägge สิ่งหนึ่งและอีกสิ่งหนึ่ง her bir, hem o hem de bu; iki (兩者之中)每一方的 обидва دونوں cái này hay cái kia trong hai cái
adv
1 used for emphasis If you don't go, I won't either. ook nie أيضا (للتَوْكيد) нито také (ne) heller auch nicht ούτε (για έμφαση) tampoco ka (mitte) همچنین kaan, kään non plus גָּם जोर देने के लिए उपयोग होता है ni, niti sem juga tidak (ekki) heldur neanche, nemmeno ~も (~ない) 또한 (...않다) taip pat arī pun ook ikke...heller też (nie) também não nici также, тоже tiež tudi (ne) ni heller เช่นกัน de/da, dahi (用於否定句或否定詞後加強語氣)也 також زور کے لۓ dùng để nhấn mạnh否定否定]也
2 moreover; besides I used to sing, and I hadn't a bad voice, either. nogal أيْضا، بالإضافَةِ إلى ذلك също dokonce, navíc heller auch nicht επίσης, και μάλιστα además pealegi علاوه بر این sitä paitsi d'ailleurs גָּם इसके अतिरिक्त ni, niti ráadásul lebih-lebih þar að auki; ennfremur neppure ~も (~ない) 더구나, 그런데다 be to, tarp kitko starp citu; pie tam juga ook heller ponadto por sinal de altfel к тому же dokonca tudi (ne) niti heller เช่นกัน üstelik (用於疑問句或條件從句中選擇部分後加強語氣)此外 до того ж اس کے علاوہ ngoài ra部分entweder...oder είτε...είτε o... o... kas ... või یا این یا آن؛ یکی از دوتا joko ... tai ou (bien)... ou (bien)... זֶה אוֹ זֶה दो संभावनाओं के बीच अपरिहार्य चयन, या तो यह या वह ili... ili vagy...vagy memberi alternatif annaðhvort . . . eða o... o...; ... ... ~か~のどちらか ...이든 또는 ~이든 arba... arba vai nu ... vai samada of... of enten...eller albo ... albo ou... ou sau..., sau... или... или, либо... либо buď ... alebo ali ... ali ili antingen ... eller ไม่อย่างนี้...ก็... ya ... ya da 或者...或者... або ... або یہ یا وہ dùng để chỉ sự lựa chọn một trong hai 或者...或者...
either way
in the one case or the other Either way he wins. hoe dit ook al sy بأي طريقَة مِنهُما всеки случай v každém případě på den ene eller anden måde; ligemeget hvad so oder so έτσι κι αλλιώς de cualquier manera mõlemal juhul در هر دو صورت joka tapauksessa de toute façon בְּכָל מִקרֶה सिकी भी तरह kako god akár így, akár úgy satu atau lain cara hvort sem er; hvernig sem á málið er litið comunque, ad ogni modo どちらにしても 어느 쪽이든 bet kuriuo atveju jebkurā gadījumā macam mana pun in beide gevallen hvordan man enn snur og vender det w każdą stronę, jakkolwiek by na to patrzeć de qualquer maneira în orice caz в обоих случаях v každom prípade tako ali tako u svakom slučaju i vilket fall som helst, hursomhelst ไม่ว่าอย่างไร ikisinden hangisi olsa 總之 так чи інакше کسی حالت میں بھی một trong hai trường hợp

either … or the verb usually matches the noun or pronoun that comes closest to it: Either John or Mary is to blame / Either John or his brothers are going to the show .



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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
All states, all powers, that have held and hold rule over men have been and are either republics or principalities.
The JUST causes of war, for the most part, arise either from violation of treaties or from direct violence.
For as there are persons who, by conscious art or mere habit, imitate and represent various objects through the medium of colour and form, or again by the voice; so in the arts above mentioned, taken as a whole, the imitation is produced by rhythm, language, or 'harmony,' either singly or combined.
 
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