another

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈnʌð.ə/ (UK); /əˈnʌð.ɚ/ (US)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is a Middle English compound, from Middle English an (“one, a”) + other (“other”),^[3][4][5] written as two words until the 16th century^[6][7][8] and often divided a nother in Middle English.^[9] The first element is the indefinite article (see an), the second other.^[3][10] Old English used ōþer alone.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not this, not the same; one more, originally a second of two (12th century in Merriam-Webster, about 1175 in the Historical Thesaurus; early 13th century in Etymonline).^[11][12][3]

Semantic evolution

Another first meant “a second of two”, and was then extended to anything additional.^[3][13] From the 16th century it also meant “a second of the same kind”, as in another Troy or another Beethoven.^[7][12][14] The reciprocal pronoun one another is attested by the 1520s.^[3] You're another!, turning an insult back on the speaker, is a colloquial retort.^[13][7] In Parliament another place is the traditional name for the other House, used in the Commons for the Lords and vice versa.^[13][15]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – an additional or different one.^[12]
• 12th century – as an adjective.^[11]
• 13th century – as a pronoun.^[11][5]
• 1520s – one another.^[3]
• late 16th century – a second of the same kind.^[7]

Modern meaning

Determiner

1. One more; an additional: another cup of coffee.
2. Different from the first; some other: another time.
3. Another of the same kind or character as: another Beethoven.

Pronoun

1. An additional one; one more.
2. A different one: I'll try another.
3. One of an indefinite group: for one reason or another.
4. Someone other than oneself.

Word family

• one another

Related words

• other
• an
• one

Usage notes

Another is normally used with a singular noun, but phrases such as another five days are common.^[2] With one it forms the reciprocal one another.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
13. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press