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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Either


E'ITHER, adjective or pronoun

1. One or another of any number. Here are ten oranges; take either orange of the whole number, or take either of them. In the last phrase, either stands as a pronoun or substitute.

2. One of two. This sense is included in the foregoing.

Lepidus flatters both,

Of both is flattered; but he neither loves,

Nor either cares for him.

3. Each; every one separately considered.

On either side of the river. Revelation 22:2.

4. This word, when applied to sentences or propositions, is called a distributive or a conjunction. It precedes the first of two or more alternatives, and is answered by or before the second, or succeeding alternatives.

Either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he sleepeth. l Kings 18.

In this sentence, either refers to each of the succeeding clauses of the sentence.