any

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ani, also eni,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English ǣnig (“any, anyone”),^[5][6][7][3] literally "one-y",^[6][8] from Proto-Germanic *ainagaz,^[6][9] a derivative of *ainaz (“one”), the source of one, with the suffix behind -y.^[8][4][9] The word has cognates in Old Frisian ēnich, Old Dutch einig, Old Saxon ēnig, Old High German einag, German einig and Old Norse einigr (“anyone, none”).^[5][3][10] The OED takes the sense "any" as originally a specific West Germanic use of an adjective meaning sole or unique, seen in Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍃 (ainahs, “only, sole”).^[5] Latin ūnicus (“sole”), the source of unique, is formed in the same way,^[8][5][4][9] and Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary go back to Proto-Indo-European *oi-no- (“one, unique”).^[6][11] The modern word keeps the spelling of the Middle English type ani and the pronunciation of the type eni.^[4][8][5] The OED explains the first by a shortening of the Old English vowel in late Old English and the second by a later shortening, with the e-forms mainly southern and south Midland.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Any, anyone: Barnhart dates the Old English word to about 725, in Beowulf,^[3] and Dictionary.com to before 950.^[12] The OED's earliest quotation for the use in questions and hypothetical contexts is from the West Saxon Gospels,^[5] and Bosworth–Toller quotes the same text's "Mæg ǽnig þing gódes beón of Nazareth".^[7]

Semantic evolution

Most of the modern range was present in Old English: reference to an unspecified member of a class in questions and conditions, "even a single one" after a negative, "any whatever" in affirmative statements, a quantity with plural and mass nouns, and use as a pronoun.^[5] The MED notes that Middle English used it often for emphasis, in the sense "any whatever", and in questions, conditions and negatives rather than in affirmative statements, where som was used.^[2] Chaucer has it 559 times and Gower 215.^[13] The adverb, "in any degree", dates from about 1400 in Etymonline, and Merriam-Webster gives the 14th century.^[6][14] From 1758 it could mean colloquially a great or endless amount, as in any amount.^[5] Etymonline records emphatic any old from 1896 and at any rate from 1847.^[6] English dialects used it as an adverb, "at all", from Yorkshire to Surrey, and in Westmorland and south Lancashire as a pronoun for either of two things.^[15] In slang getting any? asks about sex, with quotations from 1916.^[16] The compounds are early too: anything by 1000, anybody about 1300 and anywhere before 1400, though anyhow only in 1740.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 725 – any, anyone, in Beowulf.^[3]
• late 12th century – as a noun.^[6]
• c. 1400 – adverb, in any degree.^[6][14]
• 1758 – colloquially, great or unlimited in amount.^[5]
• 1916 – slang, sex, especially in getting any?.^[16]

Meanings

Determiner

1. One or some, no matter which, especially in questions and conditions: Do you have any stamps?^[17][14][5]
2. After a negative, even the smallest amount or even one: I won't accept any delay.^[17][5]
3. Whichever or whatever; every: Any bookshop will have it.^[17][14][5]
4. (colloquial) Great or unlimited in quantity, as in any amount.^[5]

Pronoun

1. Any person or persons, or one or more of the things mentioned: Choose any that appeal to you.^[17][14][5]
2. Any part or quantity: We had no milk and couldn't buy any.^[14][5]
3. (dialect, England) Either of two.^[14][15]
4. (slang) Sex, especially in getting any?^[16]

Adverb

1. To any degree; at all: She doesn't feel any better.^[14][6][15]

Word family

• anybody
• anyhow
• anymore
• anyone
• anyplace
• anything

Related words

• one
• unique
• an

Usage notes

As a pronoun, any takes a singular or a plural verb according to its sense, "any one" or "some".^[18] The construction with of meaning "of all", as in "the best known of any", occurs in informal contexts.^[18]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
8. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
12. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
13. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
14. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
15. ^ a b c Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
16. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
17. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
18. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin