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Either vs Ether - What's the difference?

either | ether |

As a determiner either

is each of two.

As a pronoun either

is both, each of two or more.

As an adverb either

is as well.

As a conjunction either

is introduces the first of two options, the second of which is introduced by "or".

As a noun ether is

a compound containing an oxygen atom bonded to two hydrocarbon groups.

As a verb ether is

: {{usex|lang=en|The battle rapper ethered his opponent and caused him to slink away in shame.}.

As a proper noun Ether is

the god/personification of the bright, glowing upper air of heaven. He is the Roman counterpart of Aether.

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)
  • Each of two.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
    • His flowing hair / In curls on either cheek played.
  • * 1936 , (Djuna Barnes), (Nightwood) , Faber & Faber 2007, page 31:
    • Her hands, long and beautiful, lay on either side of her face.
  • 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= Mason drops lawsuit vs. Jews for Jesus}}
  • (coordinating)
  • * {{quote-book, year=1893, author=(Walter Besant), title= The Ivory Gate, chapter=Prologue
    • , passage=Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language

    Synonyms

    * (one or the other) * (each of two) both, each

    Pronoun

    (English Pronouns)
  • (obsolete) Both, each of two or more.
  • * , Bk.VII:
    • Than ayther departed to theire tentis and made hem redy to horsebacke as they thought beste.
  • * (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
    • Scarce a palm of ground could be gotten by either of the three.
  • * , III.i:
    • And either vowd with all their power and wit, / To let not others honour be defaste.
  • * (1809-1894)
    • There have been three talkers in Great British, either of whom would illustrate what I say about dogmatists.
  • One or other of two people or things.
  • * 2013 , Daniel Taylor, 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

    (-)
  • As well.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
    • , passage=But Richmond

    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 * too

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • Introduces the first of two options, the second of which is introduced by "or".
    • 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 * or

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * English conjunctive adverbs English indefinite pronouns English third person pronouns English words not following the I before E except after C rule 1000 English basic words

    ether

    English

    (wikipedia ether)

    Alternative forms

    * aether * (dated British spelling) * aethyr, ethyr (archaic spellings)

    Noun

  • (organic compound, countable) A compound containing an oxygen atom bonded to two hydrocarbon groups.
  • (organic compound, uncountable) Diethyl ether (C4H10O), a compound used as an early anaesthetic.
  • (ancient philosophy, and, alchemy, uncountable) A classical physical element, considered as prevalent in the heavens and inaccessible to humans. In some versions of alchemy, this was the fifth element in addition to air, earth, fire and water.
  • (archaic, physics, uncountable) A substance (aether ) once thought to fill all space that allowed electromagnetic waves to pass through it and interact with matter, without exerting any resistance to matter or energy (disproved by Einstein in his Theory of Relativity).
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author=(Jonathan Freedland)
    • , volume=189, issue=1, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Obama's once hip brand is now tainted , passage=Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.}}
  • The sky or heavens; the upper air.

    • Quotations

    * (English Citations of "ether")

    Derived terms

    * crown ether * lariat ether * petroleum ether * pyroacetic ether * sulfur ether, sulphur ether

    Verb

    (slang) To viciously insult.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2014-02-26, magazine=(Deadspin)
    • , title= HS Coach Gets Ethered By Girlfriend On FB, Resigns Amid Investigation }}

    Quotations

    (English Citations of "ether")

    Anagrams

    * ----