both English · revision 1862

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1124}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bəʊθ/ ''(UK)''; /boʊθ/ ''(US)''^(Roach et al. 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|bothe]], [[m|enm|bathe]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(MWU 2024) probably [[bor|non|báðir|t=both]],^(AHD 2000)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023) formed from the base of [[gem-pro|*ba-|t=both]] and the definite article (see [[the]]).^(Klein 1966)^(Skeat 1911) The native word was [[ang|bā þā|t=both those]], from [[m|ang|bā]], a form of [[m|ang|bēgen|t=both]], and [[m|ang|þā]], the plural of [[m|ang|se|t=that]];^(Etymonline)^(AHD) according to Barnhart the Scandinavian word fixed the form of the native phrase, so that Middle English ''bathe'', ''bothe'' was in effect a blend of the two.^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline offers several similar theories, all resting on the habit of saying “both the”.^(Etymonline) The first element is related to [[got|𐌱𐌰𐌹|tr=bai|t=both]] and to the second syllable of [[la|ambō|t=both]] and [[grc|ἄμφω|tr=ámphō|t=both]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) Cognates include [[osx|bēthia]], [[goh|beide]] (modern [[de|beide]]) and [[nl|beide]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The one and the other; the two together (1124 as ''bathe'' in Barnhart, ''bothe'' about 1225, in ''King Horn'').^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Old English simple word (''bēgen'', ''bā'') survived up to the 14th century as ''beyn'', ''ba'' or ''bo'', alongside the newer ''bothe''.^(Weekley 1921) In early Modern English ''both'' was sometimes inflected like a noun, with a genitive ''both's'', and ''the both'' was also used from the 14th century;^(OED 1989) the latter now survives as a colloquial and regional construction that stresses that the two are together.^(Wiktionary) From the 12th century ''both'' has been a conjunction used with ''and'', to stress that each of two linked things is included;^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024) Johnson (1755) defined it as “as well”.^(Johnson 1755) The conjunction is sometimes used of more than two things.^(Chambers 2008)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1124 – ''bathe'', the one and the other.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1225 – ''bothe'', in ''King Horn''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 12th century – as a pronoun and conjunction.^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 13th century – as an adjective, before a noun.^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Determiner===

+ # The one and the other; the two together, with each included: ''both hands''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # The one as well as the other; the two of them: ''both of us''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # Used with ''and'' to stress that each of two (or sometimes more) linked words, phrases or clauses is included: ''both new and exciting''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary notes that ''both'' means that what is said applies to each of the two separately, so it is out of place where the statement is true only of the two taken together.^(AHD) In possessives it prefers ''the fault of both'' to ''both their fault'', and with ''and'' it asks for parallel elements: ''in both India and China'', not ''both in India and China''.^(AHD) The word does not come between a possessive and its noun: ''both my hands'', not ''my both hands''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}