neither: [13] Despite the two words’ similarity, neither is not just either with a negative prefix tacked on. It comes ultimately from Old English nāhw?ther ‘neither’, a compound formed from nā ‘not’ (which survives as no in modern English ‘whether or no’) and hw?ther ‘which of two’ (ancestor of modern English whether). In the late Old English period it was contracted to nawther, and in Middle English, under the influence of either, this became transformed into neither. => whether
neither (conj.)
Old English nawter, contraction of nahw?ter, literally "not of two," from na "no" (see no) + hw?ter "which of two" (see whether). Spelling altered c. 1200 by association with either. Paired with nor from c. 1300; earlier with ne. Also used in Old English as a pronoun. As an adjective, mid-14c.
雙語(yǔ)例句
1. The report concludes that I acted neither fraudulently nor improperly.
報(bào)告最后認(rèn)為我的行為既沒(méi)有欺騙性也沒(méi)有任何不妥。
來(lái)自柯林斯例句
2. They can neither read nor write, nor can they comprehend such concepts.
他們不會(huì)讀，不會(huì)寫，也理解不了這樣的概念。
來(lái)自柯林斯例句
3. That, if you'll pardon my saying so, is neither here nor there.
恕我直言，那根本就不重要。
來(lái)自柯林斯例句
4. I have received neither an acknowledgment nor a reply.
我未收到任何復(fù)函或答復(fù)。
來(lái)自柯林斯例句
5. I take it that neither of you reads "The Times"