Definition/Meaning of either

• English - Determiner: either Each of two . [from 9th c .] John Milton (1608-1674) 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 . One or the other of two . [from 14th c .] ( coordinating ) Used before two or more not necessarily exclusive possibilities separated by "or" or sometimes by…
• English - Pronoun: either ( obsolete ) Both , each of two or more . 1485 , Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur , Bk .VII: Than ayther departed to theire tentis and made hem redy to horsebacke as they thought beste . Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Scarce a palm of ground could be gotten by either of the three . 1590 , Edmund Spenser , The Faerie Queene , III .i: And either vowd with all their power and wit , / To let…
• English - Adverb: either ( not comparable ) ( conjunctive , after a negative ) As well . I don't like him and I don't like her either . Usage notes either is sometimes used , especially in North American English , where neither would be more traditionally accurate: "I'm not hungry ." "Me either ." Synonyms neither too Translations
• English - Conjunction: either Introduces the first of two options , the second of which is introduced by "or". Either you eat your dinner or you go to your room . Translations Usage notes When there are more than two alternatives , "any" is used instead .
• English - Etymology: Old English ǣġhwæþer , from Proto-Germanic , ultimately corresponding to ay + whether . Akin to Old Saxon eogihwethar , iahwethar ; Old Dutch *iogewether , *iowether , *iother (Dutch ieder ); Old High German eogihwedar , iegihweder , ieweder (German jeder ).