Either vs Only - What's the difference?
either | only |
Each of two.
* (John Milton) (1608-1674)
* 1936 , (Djuna Barnes), (Nightwood) , Faber & Faber 2007, page 31:
One or the other of two.
* {{quote-news, passage=You can't be a table and a chair. You're either a Jew or a gentile.
, quotee=(Jackie Mason), year=2006, date=December 5, work=USA Today
, title= (coordinating)
* {{quote-book, year=1893, author=(Walter Besant), title=
, passage=Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language
(obsolete) Both, each of two or more.
* , Bk.VII:
* (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
* , III.i:
* (1809-1894)
One or other of two people or things.
* 2013 , Daniel Taylor,
As well.
* {{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
, passage=But Richmond
Introduces the first of two options, the second of which is introduced by "or".
Alone in a category.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-26, author=
, volume=189, issue=7, page=32, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= Singularly Superior; the best.
* (William Shakespeare)
Without sibling; without a sibling of the same gender.
* 1949 , and (Ernestine Gilbreth Carey), (Cheaper by the Dozen) , dedication:
(label) Mere.
* , I.40:
Without others or anything further; exclusively.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=
, volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= No more than; just.
* 1949 , Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, (Cheaper by the Dozen) , dedication:
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=20 * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=70, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= As recently as.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (obsolete) Above all others; particularly.
* Marston
Under the condition that; but.
However.
But for the fact that; except.
(rare) only child
* 2013 , Sybil L. Hart, ?Maria Legerstee, Handbook of Jealousy
In obsolete terms the difference between either and only
is that either is both, each of two or more while only is above all others; particularly.As a determiner either
is each of two.As a pronoun either
is both, each of two or more.As an adjective only is
alone in a category.As a noun only is
only child.either
English
Usage notes
In the UK the first pronunciation is generally used more in southern England, while the latter is more usual in northern England. However, this is an oversimplification, and the pronunciation used varies by individual speaker and sometimes by situation. The second pronunciation is the most common in the United States.Determiner
(en determiner)- His flowing hair / In curls on either cheek played.
- Her hands, long and beautiful, lay on either side of her face.
Mason drops lawsuit vs. Jews for Jesus}}
The Ivory Gate, chapter=Prologue
Synonyms
* (one or the other) * (each of two) both, eachPronoun
(English Pronouns)- Than ayther departed to theire tentis and made hem redy to horsebacke as they thought beste.
- Scarce a palm of ground could be gotten by either of the three.
- And either vowd with all their power and wit, / To let not others honour be defaste.
- There have been three talkers in Great British, either of whom would illustrate what I say about dogmatists.
Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban, The Guardian, 6 September:
- Hodgson may now have to bring in James Milner on the left and, on that basis, a certain amount of gloss was taken off a night on which Welbeck scored twice but barely celebrated either before leaving the pitch angrily complaining to the Slovakian referee.
Adverb
(-)Usage notes
either is sometimes used, especially in North American English, where neither would be more traditionally accurate: "I'm not hungry." "Me either."Synonyms
* neither * tooConjunction
(English Conjunctions)- Either you eat your dinner or you go to your room.
Usage notes
* When there are more than two alternatives, "any" is used instead.See also
* neither * nor * orStatistics
*only
English
Alternative forms
* onely (obsolete)Adjective
(-)Nick Miroff
Mexico gets a taste for eating insects, passage=The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters such as ostrich, wild boar and crocodile. Only the city zoo offers greater species diversity.}}
- Motley's the only wear.
- To DAD ¶ who only reared twelve children ¶ and ¶ To MOTHER ¶ who reared twelve only children
- I know some who wittingly have drawne both profit and preferment from cuckoldrie, the only name whereof is so yrksome and bail-ful to so many men.
Synonyms
* (alone in a category) sole, lone * (singularly superior) peerless, unequaled, nonpareilDerived terms
* if any * if only * one and only * only child * only game in town * only ifAdverb
(-)Ed Pilkington
‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told, passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}
- To DAD
- who only reared twelve children
- and
- To MOTHER
- who reared twelve only children
citation, passage=‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’}}
Engineers of a different kind, passage=Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.}}
Yesterday’s fuel, passage=The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).}}
- his most only elected mistress
Derived terms
* if and only if * only ifConjunction
(English Conjunctions)Statistics
*Noun
(onlies)- The consistent finding that infants who are onlies do not differ from those who have siblings despite their lesser history of exposure to differential treatment is perplexing.