both - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English bothe, boþe, from Old English bā þā (“both the; both those”) and possibly reinforced by 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, Norwegian både, Icelandic báðir. Replaced Middle English bō, from Old English bā, a form of Old English bēġen. A remnant of the Indo-European dual grammatical number.

both

  1. Each of the two; one and the other; referring to two individuals or items.
    Both (the/my) children are such dolls.
    Which one do you need? ―I need both of them.
    • 1717, Viscount Bolingbroke, Reflexions upon Exile:
      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.
    • 2020 June 22, Rob Picheta, “Most Black British people think the Conservative Party is institutionally racist, CNN poll finds”, in CNN‎[1]:
      Around a third of both Black and White respondents said they believed the opposition Labour Party to be institutionally racist.
    • 2022 August 4, William Bahn, “Boolean Algebra Laws—Delving Into Boolean Identities”, in All About Circuits‎[2]:
      The proof (Tables 9 and 10) of idempotence for both OR and AND follows from examining the definition of each operation under the constraint that both inputs have the same value.

This word does not come between a possessive and its head noun. Say both (of) my hands, not *my both hands. Say, both (of) the king's horses, not *the king's both horses.

each of two; one and the other

both

  1. Each of the two, or of the two kinds.
    Did you want this one or that one? ―Give me both.
    They were both here.
    I've already lost both (of) my parents.
    • 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.

both

  1. Including both of (used with and).
    I (can) both sing and dance.
    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.
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:both.
  2. (obsolete) Including all of (used with and).
    • 1598, Philip Sidney, The countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia, page 211:
      […] having much aduantage both in number, valure, and forepreparation […]
    • 1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC:
      Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound.
    • 1892, Richard Congreve, Essays Political, Social, and Religious, volume 2, page 615:
      […] as he appreciates its beauty and its rich gifts, as he regards it with venerant love, fed by both his intellectual powers, his contemplation, and his meditation.

both...and...

both f (plural bothow)

  1. hump
  2. hub
  3. stud (on sports shoes)
  4. boss (on a roof)

From Old Irish both (“hut, cabin”),[1] from Proto-Celtic *butā (compare Middle Welsh bot (“dwelling”)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to be”). Related to English booth.

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

  1. booth, hut

Alternative declension

Mutated forms of both

radical lenition eclipsis
both bhoth mboth

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

  1. ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “2 both”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
  2. ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906), A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 36, page 17

both

  1. Verbal stem occurring in the following root, aspect, and mode combinations:
Aspect Imperfective Perfective Future Optative
Momentaneous botth (roll) botth (roll)

both

  1. (Late Middle English) alternative form of bothe (“booth”)

both

  1. alternative form of bothe (“both”)

both

  1. alternative form of bothe (“both”)

both

  1. alternative form of bothe (“both”)

both f

  1. alternative form of buith

Feminine ā-stem

| | singular | dual | plural | | | ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | - | | nominative | bothL | — | — | | vocative | bothL | — | — | | accusative | buithN | — | — | | genitive | buitheH | — | — | | dative | buithL | — | — |

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

·both

  1. preterite passive conjunct of at·tá

Probably ultimately from Proto-Celtic *buzdos (“tail, penis”) perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gʷosdʰos (“piece of wood”) (compare Proto-Slavic *gvozdь (“nail, tack, peg”)). Cognates include Cornish both (“hump, stud”), Breton bod (“bush, shrub”), Irish bod (“penis”), Manx bod (“penis”) and Manx bwoid (“penis”).

both f (plural bothau)

  1. (transport) hub of a wheel, nave
    Synonyms: bogail, bŵl