different between zither vs either

English

Etymology

Borrowed from German Zither, from Old High German zithara, from Latin cithara, from Ancient Greek ?????? (kithára, “a kind of harp”). Doublet of cithara, cither, and guitar.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?z?.ð?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?z?.ð?/
• Rhymes: -?ð?(?)

Noun

zither (plural zithers)

1. (music) A musical instrument consisting of a flat sounding box with numerous strings placed on a horizontal surface, played with a plectrum or fingertips.
2. (music, translations) Related or similar instruments in other cultures, such as the Chinese guqin or Norwegian harpeleik; especially any chordophone without a neck, and with strings that pass over the body.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• (similar instruments) autoharp, dulcimer, harpeleik

References

• 2010. Appalachian Dulcimer. Ralph Lee Smith. Pg. 6.

Verb

zither (third-person singular simple present zithers, present participle zithering, simple past and past participle zithered)

1. To play a zither.
   • 1892, Edmund Gosse, The Secret of Narcisse, New York: United States Book Company, Chapter 3, pp. 100, 102,^[1]

     […] the fluting began again. Not alone this time, but, to Rosalie’s infinite surprise, accompanied on a zither. […] At this moment the fluting and zithering began again.

   • 1906, William John Locke, The Belovéd Vagabond, New York: John Lane, 1911, Chapter 9, pp. 120-121,^[2]

     We wandered and fiddled and zithered and tambourined through France till the chills and rains of autumn rendered our vagabondage less merry.

   • 1999, Richard Hacken (translator), “Mary in Misery” by Peter Rosegger in Into the Sunset: Anthology of Nineteenth-Century Austrian Prose, Riverside, CA: Ariadne Press, pp. 413-414,^[3]

     We traveled far and wide: he played the zither while I sang an accompaniment. […] He keeps zithering, and I sing like before, and before long we’ve put together a pretty good pile of money . . .

2. To make a sound similar to that made by a zither; to move while making such a sound.
   • c. 1890, May Ostlere, Dead! London: Trischler, Chapter 3, p. 76,^[4]

     Now [the wind] swithered through the badly-fixed windows, making zithering sounds as of an army of cold and frozen-out mosquitoes […]

   • 1956, Gerald Durrell, My Family and Other Animals, Penguin, 2000, Part Two, Chapter 10, p. 123,^[5]

     The olives seemed weighed down under the weight of their fruit, smooth drops of green jade among which the choirs of cicadas zithered.

   • 1985, Kim Chapin, Dogwood Afternoons, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Chapter 19, p. 178,^[6]

     Once I owned a bike […] It had no fenders and one gear only, and on the forks, both fore and aft, I clipped some plastic playing cards to zither loudly through the spokes.

   • 1996, Carl Huberman, Eminent Domain, London: Macmillan, Chapter 38, p. 328,^[7]

     ‘Look at that!’ she shouted, already backing up the Jeep, its tyres zithering on the crusty surface.

   • 2004, Matt Braun, Black Gold, New York: St Martin’s Paperbacks, Chapter Fifteen, p. 158,^[8]

     The other men opened fire with pistols, slugs zithering past him with a dull whine.

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.