either

The story

1. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*aiw
2. Old English · inherited fromǣġhwæþer
3. Middle English · inherited fromeither
4. English todayeither

From Middle English either, from Old English ǣġhwæþer, from Proto-West Germanic *aiw + *gahwaþar. Akin to Old Saxon eogihwethar, iahwethar (Low German jeed); Old Dutch *iogewether, *iowether, *iother (Dutch ieder); Old High German eogihwedar, iegihweder, ieweder (German jeder). The pronunciations with /iː/ and /eɪ/ respectively reflect Middle English forms in /ɛː/ and /æi/; the origin of that with /aɪ/ is less clear, but it may reflect a Middle English form with /iː/; see Middle English either for more discussion.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 9th c. Each of two; both.