both

 
Pronunciation: /bəʊθ/

predeterminer , determiner , & pronoun

  • used for emphasis to refer to two people or things, regarded and identified together: [as predeterminer]: both his parents indulged him [as determiner]: she held on with both hands cars parked on both sides of the road [as pronoun]: a picture of both of us together he looked at them both

adverb

  • used before the first of two alternatives to emphasize that the statement being made applies to each (the other alternative being introduced by ‘and’): the film has won favour with both young and old studies of zebra finches, both in the wild and in captivity

Phrases

have it both ways

benefit from two incompatible ways of thinking or behaving: countries cannot have it both ways: the cost of a cleaner environment may sometimes be fewer jobs

Origin:

Middle English: from Old Norse báthir

When both is used in constructions with and, the structures following ‘both’ and ‘and’ should be symmetrical. Thus, studies of zebra finches, both in the wild and in captivity is better than, for example, studies of zebra finches, both in the wild and captivity. In the second example, the symmetry of ‘in the wild’ and ‘in captivity’ has been lost. Other examples: her article is detrimental both to understanding and to peace (not her article is detrimental to both understanding and to peace).