else

Pronunciation

• IPA: /els/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English elles, inherited from Old English elles (“otherwise, besides, different”),^[2][3] the neuter genitive singular of a Germanic adjective meaning “other”, used as an adverb,^[4][5][6] from Proto-Germanic *aljaz.^[2][5] Barnhart traces it to Proto-Indo-European *alyos (“other”),^[3] which Etymonline and Klein derive from a base *al- (“beyond”).^[2][4] Its relatives include Latin alius (“other”), Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos, “other”) and Old Irish aile,^[3][4] and English alien, alias, alibi, alter, parallel and ulterior.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Other, otherwise, different: Old English elles, 971.^[3] The compound elsewhere is older, from about 725 in Beowulf.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Middle English elles became els in the 15th century and was spelled else in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.^[3] Used after pronouns as a near-adjective meaning “other”, as in someone else, it is recorded from the 1660s.^[2] The threatening or else, with the threat left unsaid, is found by 1814 in Walter Scott.^[2] English formed many compounds that did not last, such as elsewhen (early 15th century), elsehow (1660s) and elsewards (1882), while elsewhere and elsewise survive.^[2] The sense “in a different manner” was used from Old English times until about 1550.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 725 – elsewhere (Beowulf).^[3]
• 971 – Old English elles.^[3]
• 15th century – the form els.^[3]
• late 16th century – the spelling else.^[3]
• 1660s – after pronouns, “other”.^[2]
• 1814 – or else as a threat.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. (after indefinite or interrogative pronouns) Other, different: someone else.
2. Additional, more: anything else?

Adverb

1. In a different or additional way, time or place: where else.
2. If not; otherwise: hurry, or else you'll be late.

Word family

• elsewhere
• elsewhither

Related words

• alien
• alias
• alibi
• alter

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary considers else redundant after but, except and besides (no one else but Sam), and notes that the possessive is someone else's, not someone's else.^[8]

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 d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin