both

• bothe (obsolete)

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.

• 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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

• OTH-B

From Old Irish both (“hut, cabin”),^[1] from Proto-Celtic *butā (compare Middle Welsh bot (“dwelling”)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to be”). Related to English booth.

• IPA^(key): /bˠoh/^[2]

both f (genitive singular botha, nominative plural bothanna or botha)

1. booth, hut

Alternative declension

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1927) “boṫ”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 2nd edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 112; reprinted with additions 1996, →ISBN
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “both”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “both”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2025

both

1. alternative form of bothe (“booth”)

both

1. alternative form of bothe (“both”)

both

1. alternative form of bothe (“both”)

both

1. alternative form of bothe (“both”)

• IPA^(key): /boθ/

both f

1. alternative form of buith

·both

1. preterite passive conjunct of at·tá

Probably ultimately from Proto-Celtic *buzdos (“tail, penis”) perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gʷosdʰos (“piece of wood”) (compare Proto-Slavic *gvozdь (“nail, tack, peg”)). Cognates include Cornish both (“hump, stud”), Breton bod (“bush, shrub”), Irish bod (“penis”), Manx bod (“penis”) and Manx bwoid (“penis”).

• IPA^(key): /boːθ/
• Rhymes: -oːθ

both f (plural bothau)

1. (transport) hub of a wheel, nave

   Synonyms: bogail, bŵl

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “both”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies