I. ˈnēthə(r), ˈnīth-; see either pronoun
Etymology: Middle English neither, naither not either of two, pron., conjunction & adjective, alteration (influenced by either, aither either) of nauther, pron. & conjunction, nouther, nowther, pron., conjunction & adjective, nother, pron. & adjective, from Old English nāhwæther, nawther, pron. & conjunction, nōhwæther, nowther, pron., nōther, pron., from nā, nō not + hwæther which of two, whether — more at no , whether
: not one of two or more : not either:
a. : not the one and not the other of two
made two suggestions and neither was accepted
b. : not any one of more than two
neither of the three men stood up — Luke Short
— usually sing. in constr. except when a periphrastic genitive intervenes between neither and the verb form in which circumstance the verb is often plural in form
neither of them were in — John Galsworthy
— often qualified by a periphrastic genitive and used in apposition with a plural pronominal subject to emphasize the exclusion of each of the individuals included in the subject from the thing predicated
we neither of us moved — Wendy Wood
two English painters who are neither of them abstract or surrealist — Geoffrey Grigson
II. conjunction
Etymology: Middle English neither, naither
1. — used as a function word before two or more coordinate words, phrases, or clauses now joined usually by nor or sometimes by or or archaically by neither to indicate that what immediately follows is the first of two or more alternatives both or all of which are rejected
neither my father nor I were by nature inclined to faith in the unintelligible — George Santayana
2. : nor yet : also not : no more
just as the serf was not permitted to leave the land, so neither was his offspring — G.G.Coulton
an illiterate author cannot get very far, and neither can a musical composer who has not learned musical notation — Thomas Munro
justice is neither new nor old — Mark Van Doren
sat at bare tables and neither ate, drank, nor smoked — Mary Cable
neither by day nor by night
we believe neither in prescribing or proscribing books — Publisher's Weekly
this court neither approves or condemns any legislative policy — O.J.Roberts
III. adjective
Etymology: Middle English neither, naither
: not either
on neither side of the street are there any trees
IV. adverb
chiefly dialect : either — used especially to emphasize a negative in a foregoing clause
others speak so fast and sputter that they are not to be understood neither — Earl of Chesterfield