both

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English bothe, boþe, from Old English bā þā (“both the; both those”) and Old Norse báðir, from Proto-Germanic *bai-. Cognate with Saterland Frisian bee (“both”), West Frisian beide (“both”), Dutch beide (“both”), German beide (“both”), Swedish både, båda, Danish både, Icelandic báðir. Replaced Middle English bō from Old English bā, bū, and beġen, also from Proto-Germanic *bai-.

Pronunciation

Determiner

both

  1. Each of the two; one and the other; referring to two individuals or items.
    "Did you want this one or that one?" — "Give me both."
    Both children are such dolls.
    • Bible, Genesis xxi. 27
      Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.
    • Viscount Bolingbroke (1678-1751)
      He will not bear the loss of his rank, because he can bear the loss of his estate; but he will bear both, because he is prepared for both.
  2. Each of the two kinds; one and the other kind; referring to several individuals or items which are divided into two groups.
    • 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:
      Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.   Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.

Translations

Conjunction

both

  1. Including both of (used with and).
    Both you and I are students.
    • 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:
      Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. There was a great deal of them, lavish both in material and in workmanship.
  2. (obsolete) Including all of (used with and).

Translations

Quotations

  • For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:both.

See also

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish both (“hut, bothy, cot; cabin”), from Proto-Celtic *butā (compare Middle Welsh bot (“dwelling”)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to be”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bˠɔh/, /bˠɔ/

Noun

both f (genitive singular botha, nominative plural bothanna or botha)

  1. Booth, hut.

Declension

Alternative declension

Derived terms

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
both bhoth mboth
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

  • "both" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
  • Entries containing “both” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.
  • “2 both” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old Norse búð.

Noun

  1. Alternative form of bothe (“booth”)

Etymology 2

Old English bā þā; influenced by Old Norse báðir.

Determiner

both

  1. Alternative form of bothe (“both”)

Conjunction

both

  1. Alternative form of bothe (“both”)

Old Irish

Verb

both

  1. preterite passive conjunct of at·tá
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