NEITHER

I. conjunction Etymology: Middle English, alteration (influenced by either) of nauther, nother, from Old English nāhwæther, nōther, from nā, nō not + hwæther which of two, whether Date: 12th century not either , also not , Usage: Although use with or is ~ archaic nor wrong, ~ is usually followed by nor. A few commentators think that ~ must be limited in reference to two, but reference to more than two has been quite common since the 17th century . II. pronoun Date: 13th century not the one or the other of two or more, Usage: Some commentators insist that ~ must be used with a singular verb. It generally is, but especially when a prepositional phrase intervenes between it and the verb, a plural verb is quite common . III. adjective Date: 14th century not either , IV. adverb Date: 1551 either , similarly not ; also not