Meanings
- Not one of two; not either; not one or the other.
Neither definition seems correct.
2 more examples
with the help of neither you nor either of our sons.
She was neither learned nor intelligent, but she contrived to dress both herself and her daughter out of a meagre jointure, supplying with her clever fingers what her purse could not buy;[…].
1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax
- Not either (used with nor).
Neither you nor I like it.
2 more examples
Neither rain nor snow is going to stop mail delivery.
For most people, this sacrifice is made easily and instinctively. Not so for otroverts, who are neither willing nor able to passively adopt the social scripts that others do. To the otrovert, who is constantly engaged with the choices and consequences of their individual life, social norms follow a circular logic: […]
2025 June 19, Rami Kaminski, ““Otroverts” and why nonconformists often see what others can’t”, in Big Think
- Not either one of two.
Her words of advice will help neither of us.
2 more examples
I’ve tried on both shirts, but neither fits properly.
Corpses surfaced near Portsmouth - was one of them Buster Crabb? Or were neither of them?
- not comparableSimilarly not.
Neither can she stop him, nor can he stop her.
4 more examples
Just as you would not correct it, neither would I.
Neither now, nor ever will he forsake his mother.
You won't find it hot, but neither will you be freezing cold.
The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them[…]is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies. […] current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate […] “stateless income”: profit subject to tax in a jurisdiction that is neither the location of the factors of production that generate the income nor where the parent firm is domiciled.
2013 June 22, “T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 68
- archaicNor.
But here thou canst not handle aught, neither make the folk ware of thee, not though thou shout thy throat hoarse.
1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 1
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivenot either; not one or the other; entity, dual, negative pronoun; quantifier, dual, negative
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishnāwþer
- Middle Englishneiþer
- Englishneither
Alteration (after either) of nauther, from Middle English neiþer, from Old English nāwþer, contraction of nāhwæþer, corresponding to no + whether. Compare Latin neuter (“neither”). By surface analysis, not + either.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek οὐδέτερος
- οὐδέτερος (oudéteros)not one of two; not either
Arabic لَا X وَلَا, أَحَد لَا
- لَا X وَلَا (lā X walā X)not either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- أَحَد لَا (ʔaḥad lā)not either one
- وَلَا (walā)similarly not
Bulgarian нито един, никой
- нито един (nito edin)not one of two; not either
- никой (nikoj)not one of two; not either
- нито X нито Y (nito X nito Y)not either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- нито един (nito edin)not either one
Catalan tampoc
- tampocsimilarly not
Chinese Mandarin 不X也不X
- 不X也不X (bù X yě bù X)not either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
Czech žádný, ani X
- žádnýnot one of two; not either
- ani Xnot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- ani Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- žádnýnot either one
Danish ingen af, hverken
- ingen afnot one of two; not either
- hverkennot one of two; not either
- hverken X eller Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- ingen af dem (ingen af de to)not either one
Dutch geen van beide, noch X noch Y
- geen van beidenot one of two; not either
- noch X noch Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- X noch Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- geen van beidenot either one
- ook nietsimilarly not
- evenminsimilarly not
Esperanto nek
- neknot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
Finnish ei kumpikaan, ei X
- ei kumpikaannot one of two; not either
- ei Xnot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- eikä Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- ei kumpikaannot either one
- eikäsimilarly not
- -kaansimilarly not
French aucun des deux, ni X ni Y
- aucun des deuxnot one of two; not either
- ni X ni Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- aucunnot either one
- non plussimilarly not
German weder, weder X noch Y
- wedernot one of two; not either
- weder X noch Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- keinernot either one
- keinenot either one
- keinesnot either one
Hindi भी नहीं
- भी नहीं (bhī nahī̃)not either one
Hungarian egyik sem, semelyik
- egyik semnot one of two; not either
- semelyiknot one of two; not either
- semnot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- senot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- egyik semnot either one
- semelyiknot either one
Icelandic hvorki X né Y
- hvorki X né Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
Irish ceachtar, ceachtar
- ceachtarnot one of two; not either
- ceachtarnot either one
Italian nessuno dei due, né X né Y
- nessuno dei duenot one of two; not either
- né X né Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- nessunonot either one
- nésimilarly not
Japanese どちらも…ない, XでもなくYでもない
- どちらも…ない (dochira mo … nai)not one of two; not either
- XでもなくYでもない (X de mo naku Y de mo nai)not either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- XもYも…ない (X mo Y mo …nai)not either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- どちらも…ない (dochira mo …nai)not either one
Korean X도 아니고 Y도 아니다, X도 Y도 아니다
- X도 아니고 Y도 아니다 (Xdo anigo Ydo anida)not either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- X도 Y도 아니다 (Xdo Ydo anida)not either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
Latin neuter, nec X nec Y
- neuternot one of two; not either
- nec X nec Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
Latvian ne, neviens
- nenot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- neviensnot either one
Lithuanian nei X, nei Y
- nei Xnot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- nei Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
Norwegian ingen av, korkje
- ingen avnot one of two; not either
- korkjenot one of two; not either
Norwegian Bokmål hverken, verken X eller Y
- hverkennot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- verken X eller Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
Persian هیچیک, هیچکدام
- هیچیک (hičyek)not one of two; not either
- هیچکدام (hīčkodām)not one of two; not either
- نه (na)not either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
Polish żaden, ani X
- żadennot one of two; not either
- ani Xnot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- ani Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- żadennot either one
- też niesimilarly not
Portuguese nenhum (dos dois), nem X nem Y
- nenhum (dos dois)not one of two; not either
- nem X nem Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- nenhum (dos dois)not either one
- tampoucosimilarly not
Romanian nici X nici Y, nici
- nici X nici Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- nicisimilarly not
Russian ни оди́н, ни тот, ни друго́й
- ни оди́н (ni odín)not one of two; not either
- ни тот, ни друго́й (ni tot, ni drugój)not one of two; not either
- ни X ни X (ni X ni X)not either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- ни оди́н (ni odín)not either one
- никто́ (niktó)not either one
- ничто́ (ništó)not either one
- та́кже не (tákže ne)similarly not
Scottish Gaelic no, aon chuid X no Y
- nonot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- aon chuid X no Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- an dara cuid X no Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- na X na Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- cha mhothasimilarly not
- nì mothasimilarly not
Spanish ninguno, ningún
- ningunonot one of two; not either
- ningúnnot one of two; not either
- ni X ni Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- ningunonot either one
- tampocosimilarly not
Swedish ingendera, ingen av
- ingenderanot one of two; not either
- ingen avnot one of two; not either
- varken X eller Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- vare sig X eller Ynot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- ingenderanot either one
- ingen av demnot either one
- varken ellernot either one
Ukrainian ні X ні X, жоден
- ні X ні X (ni X ni X)not either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
- жоден (žoden)not either one
Vietnamese không X cũng không X
- không X cũng không Xnot either (used with nor): neither X nor Y
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with neither
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
neither. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neither
“neither.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neither. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “neither,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neither.
Source: neither on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.