Neither

//ˈnaɪ.ðə// adv, conj, det, pron

adv, conj, det, pron ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    not either; not one or the other; entity, dual, negative pronoun; quantifier, dual, negative wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    Similarly not. not-comparable

    "Just as you would not correct it, neither would I."

Determiner
  1. 1
    Not one of two; not either; not one or the other.

    "Neither definition seems correct."

Conjunction
  1. 1
    Not either (used with nor).

    "Neither you nor I likes it."

  2. 2
    Nor. archaic

    "But here thou canst not handle aught, neither make the folk ware of thee, not though thou shout thy throat hoarse."

Pronoun
  1. 1
    Not either one of two.

    "I’ve tried on both shirts, but neither fits properly."

Synonyms

All synonyms
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Example

More examples

"A mathematical truth is neither simple nor complicated; it is."

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.

Related phrases

common sense is neither common nor sensicalmake neither head nor tail ofme neitherneither a borrower nor a lender beneither fish nor fleshneither fish nor flesh, nor good red herringneither fish nor fowlneither fish, flesh, nor fowlneither fish, flesh, nor good red herringneither here nor thereneither this nor thatneither use nor ornament

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.