# both

Pronunciation: say "BOHTH" US /boʊθ/, UK /bəʊθ/

## Determiner

1. Referring to the two people or things together rather than just one of them.
   - Simple: Used before a noun to mean the two people or things together, not just one.
   - _Both candidates agreed to a second debate next week._
   - _The storm damaged both bridges leading into town._

## Conjunction

2. Used before the first of two linked items, paired with 'and', to stress that a statement covers each of them.
   - Simple: Used with the word 'and' to show that something is true of two things at once.
   - _The new policy benefits both employees and customers._
   - _He is both a teacher and a working musician._

## Pronoun

3. Each one of the two people, things, or kinds being considered.
   - Simple: Used to mean the two people, things, or kinds, not just one.
   - _The committee interviewed two finalists and hired both._
   - _Both were exhausted after the long hike up the ridge._

## Conjunction

4. Used with 'and', in older English, to take in all of three or more things rather than only two. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: In old English use, paired with 'and' to cover all of several things, not just two.

## Origin

From Middle English 'bothe', from Old English 'bā þā' ("both the; both those"), possibly reinforced by Old Norse 'báðir', from Proto-Germanic *bai. It is cognate with Dutch and German 'beide' and Swedish 'både', and is a remnant of the Indo-European dual grammatical number.

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