Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Neither
Nei′ther
(nē′thẽr or nī′thẽr; 277)
, Adj.
[OE.
neither
, nother
, nouther
, AS. nāwðer
, nāhwaeðer
; nā
never, not + hwaeðer
whether. The word has followed the form of either
. See No
, and Whether
, and cf. Neuter
, Nor
.] Not either; not the one or the other.
Which of them shall I take?
Both? one? or
If both remain alive.
Both? one? or
neither
? Neither
can be enjoyed,If both remain alive.
Shakespeare
He
Nor either cares for him.
neither
loves,Nor either cares for him.
Shakespeare
Nei′ther
,c
onj.
Not either; generally used to introduce the first of two or more coordinate clauses of which those that follow begin with nor.
Fight
neither
with small nor great, save only with the king. 1 Kings xxii. 31.
Hadst thou been firm and fixed in thy dissent,
Neither
had I transgressed, nor thou with me. Milton.
When she put it on, she made me vow
That I should
That I should
neither
sell, nor give, nor lose it. Shakespeare
☞ Neither was formerly often used where we now use nor. “For neither circumcision, neither uncircumcision is anything at all.”
Tyndale.
“Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it.” Gen. iii. 3.
Neither is sometimes used colloquially at the end of a clause to enforce a foregoing negative (nor, not, no). “He is very tall, but not too tall neither.” Addison.
” ‘I care not for his thrust’ ‘No, nor I neither.'” Shak.
Not so neither
, by no means.
[Obs.]
Shak.
Webster 1828 Edition
Neither
NEITHER
,Noun.
1.
It refers to individual things or persons; as, which road shall I take? Neither, take neither road. The upright judge inclines to neither party. It is used as a substitute; as, the upright judge inclines to neither of the parties.He neither loves Nor either cares for him.
2.
It refers to a sentence; as, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it. That is, ye shall not eat, not either or other shall ye touch it; ye shall not eat, nor shall ye do the other thing here mentioned, that is, touch it. Genesis 3. Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king; that is, fight not, either with small or great. 1 Kings 22.
Neither, in the first part of a negative sentence, is followed by nor, in the subsequent part. It is neither the one nor the other. But or would be most proper, for the negative in neither, applies to both parts of the sentence. It is often used in the last member of a negative sentence instead of nor, as in the passage above cited. Ye shall not eat it , neither shall ye touch it. Here neither is improperly used for nor, for not in the first clause refers only to that clause, and the second negative refers only to the second clause. Ye shall not eat it, nor shall ye touch it. In the sentences above, neither is considered to be a conjunction or connecting word, though in fact it is a pronoun or representative of a clause of a sentence.
3.
Neither primarily refers to two; not either of two. But by usage it is applicable to any number, referring to individuals separately considered. Five or ten persons being charged with a misdemeanor or riot, each may say, neither of us was present.4.
Neither sometimes closes a sentence in a peculiar manner, thus, men come not to the knowledge of ideas thought to be innate, till they come to the use of reason; not then neither. That is not either when they come to the use of reason, or before. Formerly, in English, as in Greek and French, two negatives were used for one negation. But in such phrases as that above, good speakers now use either; nor then either.Definition 2024
neither
neither
English
Determiner
neither
- Not one of two; not either.
- Neither definition seems correct.
- 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
- She was neither learned nor intelligent, but she contrived to dress both herself and her daughter out of a meagre jointure, supplying with her clever fingers what her purse could not buy; […] .
Translations
not one of two; not either
Pronoun
neither
- not either one
- ... because neither is correct.
Translations
not either one
Conjunction
neither
- Not either (used with nor).
- 2013 June 22, “T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 68:
- The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them […] is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies. […] current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate […] “stateless income”: profit subject to tax in a jurisdiction that is neither the location of the factors of production that generate the income nor where the parent firm is domiciled.
- Neither you nor I like it.
- Neither now, nor ever will he forsake his mother.
-
Translations
not either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
|
|
also not
Adverb
neither (not comparable)
- (conjunctive) similarly not
- Just as you would not correct it, neither would I.
Translations
similarly not
Usage notes
- Neither is used to mean none of two or more. Although some suggest that using the word neither with more than two items is incorrect, it has been commonly used to refer to more than two subjects since the 17th century. The more modern usage does prefer none with more than two things.
- There is considerable variation in the number of the verb employed with this construction.
- Examples:
- "That woman was neither a collector nor an art critic, but she understood the meaning I meant to give that work." — Marcelle Ferron
- "Has anyone ever loved you so much that they tried to kill you, or perhaps sucked you down into a hole so that you had to kill them to get away? Yeah, me neither." — Maynard James Keenan
- "You can make a lot of money in this game. Just ask my ex-wives. Both of them are so rich that neither of their husbands work." — Lee Trevino
- "As if it were gold and could be neither good nor bad nor worth more nor worth less but must always be worth the same no matter what." — Alex Miller
-
- "Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
- Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;
- But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
- When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!" — Rudyard Kipling
- "Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
-
- "Neither you, Simon, nor the fifty thousand, nor the Romans, nor the Jews, nor Judas, nor the twelve, nor the priests, nor the scribes, nor doomed Jerusalem itself understand what power is, understand what glory is, understand at all." — Jesus Christ Superstar