neither (English)
Where does "neither" come from?
The word 'neither' traces back to the Old English 'nāhwæþer,' a contraction of 'nā' meaning 'not' and 'hwæþer' meaning 'which of two.' Over centuries, this term evolved into Middle English as 'neiþer' and was eventually altered to its current spelling under the stylistic influence of 'either.' At its core, the word is a classic linguistic pairing that combines a negative prefix with an interrogative pronoun to identify that not one of two options applies.
Full etymology tree
- neither (English), 'Similarly not.'
- derived neiþer (Middle English), 'neither'
- inherited nāwþer (Old English), 'neither'
- derived nāhwæþer (Old English), 'neither'
- compound nā (Old English), 'not'
- compound ne (Old English), 'not'
- inherited *ne (Proto-Germanic), 'not'
- compound ā (Old English)
- compound ne (Old English), 'not'
- compound hwæþer (Old English), 'who or what (of two)'
- inherited *hwaþar (Proto-West Germanic), 'which (of two, interrogative)'
- inherited *hwaþeraz (Proto-Germanic), 'which, what (of two, interrogative)'
- inherited *kʷóteros (Proto-Indo-European), 'which (of two)?'
- inherited *hwaþeraz (Proto-Germanic), 'which, what (of two, interrogative)'
- inherited *hwaþar (Proto-West Germanic), 'which (of two, interrogative)'
- compound nā (Old English), 'not'
- derived nāhwæþer (Old English), 'neither'
- inherited nāwþer (Old English), 'neither'
- derived neiþer (Middle English), 'neither'
Direct ancestors
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris