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Neither vs Mother - What's the difference?

neither | mother |

As a determiner neither

is not one of two; not either.

As a pronoun neither

is not either one.

As a conjunction neither

is not either (used with nor).

As an adverb neither

is (conjunctive) similarly not.

As a proper noun mother is

one's mother.

neither

Determiner

(en determiner)
  • Not one of two; not either.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
  • , passage=She was neither learned nor intelligent, but she contrived to dress both herself and her daughter out of a meagre jointure, supplying with her clever fingers what her purse could not buy;

    Pronoun

    (English Pronouns)
  • not either one
  • ... because neither is correct.

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • Not either (used with nor).
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= T time , passage=The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (conjunctive) similarly not
  • Just as you would not correct it, neither would I.

    Usage notes

    * Neither is used to mean none of two or more. Although some suggest that using the word neither with more than two items is incorrect, it has been commonly used to refer to more than two subjects since the 17th century. The more modern usage does prefer none with more than two things. * There is considerable variation in the number of the verb employed with this construction. :* Examples: ::* "That woman was neither a collector nor an art critic, but she understood the meaning I meant to give that work." — ::* "Has anyone ever loved you so much that they tried to kill you, or perhaps sucked you down into a hole so that you had to kill them to get away? Yeah, me neither." — ::* "You can make a lot of money in this game. Just ask my ex-wives. Both of them are so rich that neither of their husbands work." — ::* "As if it were gold and could be neither good nor bad nor worth more nor worth less but must always be worth the same no matter what." — ::* "Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
    ::: Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;
    ::: But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
    ::: When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!" — ::* "Neither you, Simon, nor the fifty thousand, nor the Romans, nor the Jews, nor Judas, nor the twelve, nor the priests, nor the scribes, nor doomed Jerusalem itself understand what power is, understand what glory is, understand at all." —

    Statistics

    *

    mother

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) ).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A (human) female who (a) s a child (b) gives birth to a baby (c) donates a fertilized egg or (d) donates a body cell which has resulted in a clone. Sometimes used in reference to a pregnant female, possibly as a shortened form of mother-to-be.
  • I am visiting my mother'''(a) today.'' — ''My sister-in-law has just become a '''mother'''.(b)'' — ''Nutrients and oxygen obtained by the '''mother (c) are conveyed to the fetus.
  • * 1988 , Robert Ferro, Second Son ,
  • He had something of his mother in him, but this was because he realized that in the end only her love was unconditional, and in gratitude he had emulated her.
  • * 1991 , (Susan Faludi), The Undeclared War Against American Women ,
  • The antiabortion iconography in the last decade featured the fetus but never the mother .
  • A female parent of an animal.
  • The lioness was a mother of four cubs.
  • (figuratively) A female ancestor.
  • * 1525 , ,
  • And Ada[Adam] called his wyfe Heua[Eve] because she was the mother of all that lyveth
  • * 1844 , , Fragment on the Church , Volume 1, page 17,
  • But one in the place of God and not God, is as it were a falsehood; it is the mother falsehood from which all idolatry is derived.
  • (figuratively) A source or origin.
  • The Mediterranean was mother to many cultures and languages.
  • * 1606', '', Act 4, Scene 3, '''1866 , George Steevens (editor), ''The Complete Works of William Shakespeare , page 278,
  • Alas, poor country: / Almost afraid to know itself! It cannot / Be call'd our mother , but our grave:
  • * 1844 , , Fragment on the Church , Volume 1, page 17,
  • But one in the place of God and not God, is as it were a falsehood; it is the mother falsehood from which all idolatry is derived.
  • (when followed by a surname) A title of respect for one's mother-in-law.
  • Mother Smith, meet my cousin, Doug Jones.
  • (figuratively) Any elderly woman, especially within a particular community.
  • (figuratively) Any person or entity which performs mothering.
  • * The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. –Judges 5:7, KJV.
  • * Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. –Galatians 4:26, KJV.
  • A film or membrane which is developed on the surface of fermented alcoholic liquids, such as vinegar, wine, etc., and acts as a means of conveying the oxygen of the air to the alcohol and other combustible principles of the liquid, thus leading to their oxidation.
  • The principal piece of an astrolabe, into which the others are fixed.
  • The female superior or head of a religious house; an abbess, etc.
  • (obsolete) Hysterical passion; hysteria.
  • (Shakespeare)
    Synonyms
    * See also * metro-
    Antonyms
    * (with regards to gender) father * (with regards to ancestry) daughter, son, child
    Hypernyms
    * (a female parent) parent
    Coordinate terms
    * (a female parent) father
    Derived terms
    * antimother * be mother * biological mother * birth mother * foster mother * grandmother, great-grandmother * Mother City * Mother Earth * motherfucker * Mothering Sunday * mother-in-law * motherland * motherload * mother lode * Mother's Day * mother-to-be * mother wit * motherwort * refrigerator mother * stepmother * surrogate mother

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To treat as a mother would be expected to treat her child; to nurture.
  • *
  • She had seen fewer years than any of us, but she was of such superb Evehood and simplicity that she mothered us from the beginning.

    References

    * American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company 2003.

    Etymology 2

    Calque of Arabic .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind.
  • "The great duel, the mother of all battles has begun." — (Saddam Hussein)

    Etymology 3

    Shortened from (motherfucker)

    Alternative forms

    * mutha

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (euphemistic, coarse, slang) Motherfucker.
  • (euphemistic, colloquial) A striking example.
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • Synonyms
    * MF, mofo, motherfucker, mutha

    Statistics

    *

    Etymology 4

    Coined from .

    Alternative forms

    * moth-er

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (nonstandard) A cat that catches moths.
  • Usage notes
    Because of the spelling (mother), the alternative hyphenated spelling (moth-er) may be used to avoid ambiguity. 100 English basic words 1000 English basic words