# and

Pronunciation: say "AND" /ænd/

## Conjunction

1. Used to join words, phrases, clauses or sentences, adding one thing to another; in a list of more than two it may be repeated to stress how many there are.
   - Simple: A word that joins two or more things, ideas or sentences together.
   - _The room was small and dark and smelled of paint._
   - _He spoke slowly and clearly to the class._
2. Used to introduce a clause that follows the first in time or as its consequence.
   - Simple: Used to show that the second part happens after or because of the first.
   - _One more delay and the whole schedule collapses._
   - _She tried the key again, and this time the lock turned._
3. Used to continue a narrative from a point already understood, or alone as a question.
   - Simple: Used at the start of a sentence to carry a story on, or alone to ask 'what happened next?'.
   - _'He said no.' 'Yes, and what did you say to that?'_
   - _So there I was, stuck at the airport at midnight. And guess who walked in?_
4. Used to link nice, good, fine, or lovely with a following adjective or adverb, so that the first word acts as an intensifier meaning very or pleasantly. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Used between nice, good, fine or lovely and another describing word, so the two together mean very or pleasantly.
   - _Let the dough rise until it's nice and puffy, then punch it down._
   - _By the time the meeting ended, everyone was good and tired of the budget._
5. Used to link two verbs where the second depends on the first, in place of to. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Used instead of 'to' to join two verbs, especially after come, go or try.
   - _Try and get some sleep before the flight._
   - _I'll go and fetch the car._
6. Used between two identical words to suggest continued or endless repetition.
   - Simple: Used between the same word twice to show that something keeps going on.
   - _The child asked why, and why, and why again._
   - _Prices went up and up all year._
7. Used to combine numbers in addition; plus.
   - Simple: Used between numbers to add them, meaning 'plus'.
   - _Three and three is six, as every child knows._
   - _Two and two, the teacher said, do not make five._
8. Used to introduce a parenthetical or explanatory clause or phrase.
   - Simple: Used to add a comment or explanation to what was just said.
   - _The bill passed, and by a wide margin._
   - _Only she, and she alone, held the key._
9. Used within numbers, between hundreds and tens or a whole and a fraction, and in older counts and sums of money.
   - Simple: Used inside numbers, as in 'a hundred and one' or 'two and a half'.
   - _Lincoln's speech begins 'four score and seven years ago'._
   - _Grandma still says 'five and twenty past' for twenty-five past._
10. Used between repetitions of the same word to show that things of that name differ in kind or quality.
   - Simple: Used between the same word twice to say that not all of them are alike.
   - _There are mistakes and mistakes; this one cost lives._
   - _He said there were friends and friends, and he knew which kind she was._
11. If, or provided that, introducing a condition. *(dialectal, US)*
   - Simple: Used to mean 'if', an old use still heard in some American dialects.
12. In logic and mathematics, joins two formulas into one that is true only when both are true; the conjunction operator.
   - Simple: In logic, used to join two statements that must both be true.
   - _The statement 'x is even and x is positive' picks out the positive even numbers._
   - _In a truth table, 'p and q' is true in only one row._

## Noun

13. In rhythm, the second half of a divided beat, as counted 'one-and-two-and'; the offbeat. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: In music, the second half of a beat, counted as 'one and two and'.
   - _The horns enter on the and of four, just before the downbeat._
   - _Clap on the ands and you will feel the swing._
16. In British dialect, breath; a different word from the conjunction, related to Old Norse andi, 'breath, spirit'. *(dialectal, UK)*
   - Simple: Breath, in some British dialects.
17. Sea smoke; the steam-like fog that forms when cold air moves over warmer water. *(dialectal, UK)*
   - Simple: In some British dialects, the mist that rises from the sea in cold weather.

## Verb

18. To breathe; also to whisper, devise or imagine. *(dialectal, UK)*
   - Simple: In some British dialects, to breathe, or to whisper, plan, or imagine.

## Conjunction

14. Yet or but, used to join contrasting statements. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old use meaning 'but' or 'yet'.
15. As if or as though, introducing an imagined comparison. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old use meaning 'as if'.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–15** — The word goes back to *h₂énti, a Proto-Indo-European adverb meaning "facing opposite" or "near, in front of, before." It passed through Proto-Germanic and Proto-West Germanic to Old English and, ond, end and then Middle English and, an. German und, Dutch en, and Latin ante are related, and an ("if") is a doublet.
**Meanings 16–17** — Middle English ande had two sources, Old English anda ("grudge, malice, anger, zeal, fear") and andi, Old Norse for "breath, wind, spirit." Both go back to Proto-Germanic *anadô ("breath, anger, zeal") and further to the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂enh₁- ("to breathe, blow"). Latin animus ("spirit, soul") is related.
**Meaning 18** — Middle English anden came from two words: andian, which in Old English meant "to be envious or jealous," and anda, Old Norse for "to breathe." Both trace back to *anadōną, a Proto-Germanic verb meaning "to breathe, sputter." German ahnden ("to avenge, punish") and Swedish andas ("to breathe") are related.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/and (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).