neither meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

neither

det

UK /ˈnaɪ.ðə/ · US /ˈnaɪ.ðɚ/

Etymology 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.

1

Not one of two; not either; not one or the other.

Neither definition seems correct.
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:

neither

conj

Etymology 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.

1

Not either (used with nor).

Neither you nor I likes it.
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:

Derived terms: common sense is neither common nor sensical, make neither head nor tail of, me neither, neither a borrower nor a lender be, neither employed nor retired, neither fish, flesh, nor fowl, neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring, neither fish nor flesh, nor good red herring, neither fish nor flesh, neither fish nor fowl, neither here nor there, neither this nor that, neither use nor ornament, neither … nor

neither

pron

Etymology 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.

1

Not either one of two.

I’ve tried on both shirts, but neither fits properly.
Her words of advice will help neither of us.

neither

adv

Etymology 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.

1

Similarly not.

Just as you would not correct it, neither would I.
Neither can she stop him, nor can he stop her.

2 more examples

Neither now, nor ever will he forsake his mother.
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:

neither

conj

Etymology 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.

1

Archaic Nor.

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: