# both
## English
### Alternative forms

* bothe (obsolete)

### Etymology

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.

### Pronunciation

* enPR: bōth, IPA: /bəʊθ/
** (Received Pronunciation) IPA: [bəʊθ]
** (General American) IPA: [boʊθ]
*** (Philadelphia) IPA: [bɜʊ̯θ]
** (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA: [bɐʉθ]
** (Canada) IPA: [boːθ]
** Audio (US):(file)
* (nonstandard US) enPR: bōlth, IPA: /boʊlθ/, [boʊɫθ]
* Rhymes: -əʊθ

### Determiner

both
* 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.

#### Usage notes

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.

#### Derived terms

* bat for both sides
* best of both worlds
* both barrels
* both-handed
* both-handedly
* both-handedness
* both-hands
* both of ours
* both of theirs
* both of yours
* both-sided
* both-sidedness
* bothsiderism
* both-sides
* both-sidesism
* both … and
* burn one's candle at both ends
* burn the candle at both ends
* butter one's bread on both sides
* cut both ways
* find one's ass with both hands and a flashlight
* go both ways
* God doesn't give with both hands
* grip oneself with both hands
* have a foot in both camps
* have it both ways
* hear both sides
* jump in with both feet
* make both ends meet
* not have both oars in the water
* out of both sides of one's mouth
* play both ends against the middle
* play both sides against the middle
* swing both ways
* take one's courage in both hands
* with both hands
* work both ends against the middle
* work both sides against the middle
* worst of both worlds

#### Translations
### Pronoun

both
* 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.

### Conjunction

both
* Including both of (used with and).
    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.
* (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.

#### Translations
### Quotations

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

### See also

* 2
* 2nd
* couple
* double
* dual
* neither
* pair
* second
* twice
* two

### Anagrams

* OTH-B

## Irish
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bˠɔ(h)/
* (Ulster) IPA: /bˠoh/

### Noun

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

#### Declension

bare forms
singular
plural
nominative
both
bothanna
vocative
a bhoth
a bhothanna
genitive
botha
bothanna
dative
both
bothanna
forms with the definite article
singular
plural
nominative
an bhoth
na bothanna
genitive
na botha
na mbothanna
dative
leis an mboth don bhoth
leis na bothanna :

##### Alternative declension

bare forms
singular
plural
nominative
both
botha
vocative
a bhoth
a bhotha
genitive
botha
both
dative
both
botha
forms with the definite article
singular
plural
nominative
an bhoth
na botha
genitive
na botha
na mboth
dative
leis an mboth don bhoth
leis na botha :

#### Derived terms

* bothach (“hutted, full of huts”, adjective)
* bothán m (“shanty, cabin; hut, shed, coop”)
* bothchampa m (“hutment”)
* bothóg f (“shanty, cabin”)

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### References

* ↑ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 17

### Further reading

* Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “both”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
* “both”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025
* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “2 both”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

## Middle English
### Etymology 1
#### Noun

both
* Alternative form of bothe (“booth”)

### Etymology 2
#### Determiner

both
* Alternative form of bothe (“both”)

#### Pronoun

both
* Alternative form of bothe (“both”)

#### Conjunction

both
* Alternative form of bothe (“both”)

## Old Irish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /boθ/

### Noun

both f (genitive buithe)
* Alternative form of buith

#### Inflection

* $^H$ = triggers aspiration
* $^L$ = triggers lenition
* $^N$ = triggers nasalization

### Verb

·both
* preterite passive conjunct of at·tá

## Welsh
### Etymology

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”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /boːθ/
* Rhymes: -oːθ

### Noun

both f (plural bothau)
* (transport) hub of a wheel, nave
    Synonyms: bogail, bŵl

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### References

* 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