different between whither vs either

English

Etymology

From Old English hwider, alteration of hwæder, from Proto-Germanic *hwadrê.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /???ð?/; enPR: hw?th??r
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???ð?/
• (in accents with the wine-whine merger) IPA^(key): /?w?ð?/, /?w?ð?/
• Rhymes: -?ð?(?)
• Homophone: wither (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Adverb

whither (not comparable)

1. (archaic, formal, poetic or literary) To what place.
   • 1885, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Penguin Red Classics, paperback edition, page 24

     And with the same grave countenance he hurried through his breakfast and drove to the police station, whither the body had been carried.

   • 1918, Willa Cather, My Antonia, Mirado Modern Classics, paperback edition, page 8

     The wagon jolted on, carrying me I knew not whither.

Usage notes

• This word is unusual in modern usage; (to) where is much more common. It is more often encountered in older works or when used poetically or jocularly.
• It is also sometimes used as a rhetorical device by journalists and other writers in headlines, with the meaning "What will the future bring for ..."
• Do not confuse with whether or wither.
• Compare to the inanimate pronoun "whereto" which follows the pattern of "preposition + what" or "preposition + which".

Antonyms

• whence

Derived terms

Related terms

• hither
• thither
• whithersoever

Translations

Verb

whither (third-person singular simple present whithers, present participle whithering, simple past and past participle whithered)

1. (intransitive, obsolete, dialectal) To wuther.

English

Etymology

From Middle English either, from Old English ??hwæþer, from Proto-Germanic, ultimately corresponding to ay (“always, ever”) + whether. Akin to Old Saxon eogihwethar, iahwethar (Low German jeed); Old Dutch *iogewether, *iowether, *iother (Dutch ieder); Old High German eogihwedar, iegihweder, ieweder (German jeder).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ?th??(r), ?th??(r), IPA^(key): /?a?ð.?(?)/, /?i?ð.?(?)/
• Rhymes: -a?ð?(?), -i?ð?(?)
  • ,
• In the UK, /a?/ is used more in Southern England, and /i?/ is more usual in Northern England. In North America, /i?/ is the most common, but /a?/ is predominant in some regions. Note that even if one pronunciation is more common in a region, the pronunciation used varies by individual speaker and sometimes by situation.

Determiner

either

1. Any one (of two).

2. Each of two; both. [from 9th c.]

   There is a locomotive at either end of the train, one pulling and the other pushing.

   • 1936, Djuna Barnes, Nightwood, Faber & Faber 2007, page 31:

     Her hands, long and beautiful, lay on either side of her face.

3. (now rare) Any one (of more than two).
   • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, Letter 51:

     They entreat, they pray, they beg, they supplicate (will either of these do, Miss Clary?) that you will make no scruple to go to your uncle Antony's […].

Usage notes

• When there are more than two alternatives, in the sense of “one of many”, any is now generally used instead.

Synonyms

• (each of two): both, each

Translations

Pronoun

either

1. One or the other of two people or things.

   He made me two offers, but I did not accept either.

   • 2013, Daniel Taylor, Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban, The Guardian, 6 September:

     Hodgson may now have to bring in James Milner on the left and, on that basis, a certain amount of gloss was taken off a night on which Welbeck scored twice but barely celebrated either before leaving the pitch angrily complaining to the Slovakian referee.

2. (obsolete) Both, each of two or more.
   • 1623, Francis Bacon, A Discourse of a War with Spain

     Scarce a palm of ground could be gotten by either of the three.

   • 1872, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., The Poet at the Breakfast-Table

     There have been three famous talkers in Great British, either of whom would illustrate what I say about dogmatists.

Adverb

either (not comparable)

1. (conjunctive, after a negative) As well.

Usage notes

After a positive statement, too is commonly used: “I like him, and I like her too.”

Either is sometimes used, especially in North American English, where neither would be more traditionally accurate: “I’m not hungry.” “Me either.”

Translations

Conjunction

either

1. Introduces the first of two (or occasionally more) options or possibilities, the second (or last) of which is introduced by “or”.

   Either you eat your dinner or you go to your room.

   You can have either potatoes or rice with that, but not both.

Translations

See also

• neither
• nor
• or

References

• “either”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

Anagrams

• Ethier, theire

Middle English

Alternative forms

• æ?þer, ethir, eiþer, outher

Etymology

From Old English ??þer, a contraction of ??hwæþer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??ið?r/

Determiner

either

1. Both of two.
2. Each of two.
3. Either of two.

Descendants

• Scots: aither
• English: either

Pronoun

either

1. Both of two members of a group.
2. Each of two members of a group.
3. Either of two members of a group.

Descendants

• Scots: aither
• English: either

Adjective

either

1. Both, all, or any of a set.
2. Each of a group.

See also

• ayther

References

• “either, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-02-20.