both

English

Alternative forms

• bothe (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English bothe, boþe, from Old English bā þā (“both the; both those”) and possibly reinforced by Old Norse báðir, from Proto-Germanic *bai. Cognate with Saterland Frisian bee (“both”), West Frisian beide (“both”), Dutch beide (“both”), German beide (“both”), Swedish både, båda, Danish både, Norwegian både, Icelandic báðir. Replaced Middle English bō, from Old English bā, a form of Old English bēġen. A remnant of the Indo-European dual grammatical number.

Pronunciation

• enPR: bōth, IPA^(key): /bəʊθ/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [bəʊθ]
  • (General American) IPA^(key): [boʊθ]
    • (Philadelphia) IPA^(key): [bɜʊ̯θ]
  • (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): [bɐʉθ]
  • (Canada) IPA^(key): [boːθ]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (nonstandard US) enPR: bōlth, IPA^(key): /boʊlθ/, [boʊɫθ]
• Rhymes: -əʊθ

Determiner

both

1. Each of the two; one and the other; referring to two individuals or items.

   Both (the/my) children are such dolls.

   Which one do you need? ―I need both of them.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 21:27:

     Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.

   • 1717, Viscount Bolingbroke, Reflexions upon Exile:

     He will not bear the loss of his rank, because he can bear the loss of his estate; but he will bear both, because he is prepared for both.

Usage notes

This word does not come between a possessive and its head noun. Say both (of) my hands, not *my both hands. Say, both (of) the king's horses, not *the king's both horses.

Derived terms

• bat for both sides
• best of both worlds
• both barrels
• both-handed
• both-handedly
• both-handedness
• both of ours
• both of theirs
• both of yours
• both-sided
• both-sidedness
• bothsiderism
• both-sides
• both-sidesism
• both … and
• burn one's candle at both ends
• burn the candle at both ends
• butter one's bread on both sides
• cut both ways
• find one's ass with both hands and a flashlight
• go both ways
• God doesn't give with both hands
• grip oneself with both hands
• have a foot in both camps
• have it both ways
• hear both sides
• jump in with both feet
• make both ends meet
• not have both oars in the water
• out of both sides of one's mouth
• play both ends against the middle
• play both sides against the middle
• swing both ways
• take one's courage in both hands
• with both hands
• work both ends against the middle
• work both sides against the middle
• worst of both worlds

Translations

each of two; one and the other

Albanian: të dy (sq) Arabic: كِلَا (ar) (kilā) Egyptian Arabic: الاتنين (letnīn) Belarusian: або́два m pl (abódva), абе́дзве f pl (abjédzvje), або́е m pl or f pl or n pl (abóje) Bulgarian: и двамата m (i dvamata), и двете f (i dvete) Catalan: ambdós (ca), tots dos Chinese: Mandarin: ...都 (...dōu), 雙方 / 双方 (zh) (shuāngfāng), 倆 / 俩 (zh) (liǎ), 兩 / 两 (zh) (liǎng) Czech: oba (cs) Danish: begge (da) Dutch: beide (nl), beiden (nl), allebei (nl), allebeide (nl), alletwee (nl) Esperanto: ambaŭ (eo) Estonian: mõlemad (et) pl Faroese: báðir m pl Finnish: molemmat (fi) pl, kumpikin (fi) sg, kummatkin French: tous les deux (fr) pl, les deux (fr), tout deux Galician: ambos (gl), amos Georgian: ორივე (orive) German: beide (de) Gothic: 𐌱𐌰𐌹 (bai), 𐌱𐌰𐌾𐍉𐌸𐍃 m pl (bajōþs) Greek: αμφότεροι (el) m pl or f pl or n pl (amfóteroi) Ancient: ἀμφότερος (amphóteros) Gujarati: બંને (banne) Hebrew: שני (he) m pl Hindi: दोनों (hi) (donõ) Hungarian: (as an adjective) mindkét (hu), mind a két, (in place of the whole noun phrase) mindkettő (hu), mind a kettő Icelandic: bæði (is); báðir (is) m pl, báðar (is) f pl, bæði (is) n pl Ido: ambe (io), omna du, omni du Indonesian: keduanya Interlingua: ambe Irish: araon Italian: sia (it), entrambi (it), ambedue (it), ambo (it) tutti e due m, tutte e due f Japanese: 両方 (ja) (りょうほう, ryōhō), 両- (ryō-), (of two people only) どちらも (dochira mo), 双方 (ja) (そうほう, sōhō) Kazakh: екеуі (ekeuı) Korean: 둘 다 (dul da), 양쪽의 (ko) (yangjjogui), 쌍방 (ko) (ssangbang) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: ھەردو (herdu) Ladino: ambos Lao: please add this translation if you can Latin: ambō (la) m, ambae f, ambō (la) n Latvian: abi (lv) Lithuanian: abu (lt) Macedonian: обата m (obata), двата m (dvata) Malay: kedua-dua (ms), kededua (Singapore), dedua North Frisian: biise Norwegian: Bokmål: begge (no) Nynorsk: begge, båe Occitan: ambedós (oc), totes dos Old English: bēġen Old Galician-Portuguese: ambos Old Prussian: abbai Pashto: دواړه (ps) (dwâṛa) Persian: هر دو (har do), هردو (fa) (hardo) Polish: oba (pl), oboje (pl), obie (pl) f pl, obaj (pl) m pl, obydwaj (pl), obydwoje (pl) (rare), obydwa (pl) m pl, obydwie (pl) f pl Portuguese: ambos (pt) Romanian: ambii (ro) m, ambele f, amândoi (ro), amândouă f Russian: о́ба (ru) m pl or n pl (óba), о́бе (ru) f pl (óbe) Sanskrit: उभौ (ubhau) Sardinian: ambos Scots: baith Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: о̏ба m, о̏бје f, о̏бе f Roman: ȍba (sh) m, ȍbje (sh) f, ȍbe f Slovak: obidva, obidvaja m anim pl Slovene: oba (sl) m, obe f Spanish: ambos (es), los dos, entrambos (es), uno y otro, ambos a dos Old Spanish: amos Swedish: båda (sv), bägge (sv), ömse (sv) Telugu: రెండూ (reṇḍū), ఇద్దరు (te) (iddaru) Thai: ทั้งสอง (táng sɔ̌ɔng) Tocharian B: antapi Turkish: her ikisi (de), ikisi (de) Ukrainian: оби́два m pl or n pl (obýdva), оби́дві f pl (obýdvi), обо́є m pl or f pl or n pl (obóje) Urdu: دونوں (donõ) Vietnamese: cả hai Welsh: y ddau m, y ddwy f West Frisian: beide, allebeide Yiddish: ביידע (beyde)

Pronoun

both

1. Each of the two, or of the two kinds.

   Did you want this one or that one? ―Give me both.

   They were both here.

   I've already lost both (of) my parents.

   • 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:

     Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.

Conjunction

both

1. Including both of (used with and).

   I (can) both sing and dance.

   Both you and I are students.

   • 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:

     Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. There was a great deal of them, lavish both in material and in workmanship.

2. (obsolete) Including all of (used with and).
   • 1598, Philip Sidney, The countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia, page 211:

     […] having much aduantage both in number, valure, and forepreparation […]

   • 1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC:

     Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound.

   • 1797–1798 (date written), [Samuel Taylor Coleridge], “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere”, in Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems, London: […] J[ohn] & A[rthur] Arch, […], published 1798, →OCLC:

     He prayeth well who loveth well both man and bird and beast.

   • 1892, Richard Congreve, Essays Political, Social, and Religious, volume 2, page 615:

     […] as he appreciates its beauty and its rich gifts, as he regards it with venerant love, fed by both his intellectual powers, his contemplation, and his meditation.

Translations

both...and...

Arabic: كل من ... و ... (kullun min ... wa ...) Armenian: ե՛ւ ... ե՛ւ ... (hy) (éw ... éw ...) Catalan: tant ... com ... Chinese: Mandarin: 既……又…… (jì... yòu...), 又……又…… (yòu... yòu...) Danish: både...og... (da) Dutch: zowel ... als ... Esperanto: kaj ... kaj ... Finnish: sekä ... että French: à la fois ... et ... German: sowohl ... als auch (de) Greek: και... και... (kai... kai...) Ancient: καὶ... καὶ... (kaì... kaì...) Hindi: दोनों ... और ... (donõ ... aur ...) Hungarian: mind..., mind... Irish: idir... agus..., ... agus ... le chéile Italian: sia (it)... sia... Japanese: …でもあり…でもある (...demo ari...demo aru), …でも…でも (...demo ...demo) Latin: et...et... Macedonian: и... и... (i... i...) Norwegian: både ... og ... Old English: ġe... ġe... Persian: هم... هم... (fa) Polish: zarówno..., jak i... i..., i... Portuguese: ambos ... e ..., tanto ... quanto ... Romanian: atât ... cât și ... Russian: и... и... (i... i...) Scottish Gaelic: an dà chuid... agus... Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: оба m, обе f Roman: oba (sh) m, obe f Slovak: tak... ako... Slovene: tako ... kot ... Spanish: tanto... como..., y... por igual Swedish: både ... och (sv), såväl ... som Turkish: hem... hem...

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:both.

See also

various semantically related terms

• 2
• 2nd
• couple
• double
• dual
• neither
• pair
• second
• twice
• two

Anagrams

• OTH-B