Both
/boʊθ/noun
Used to refer to two people or things together; each of two.
Did you know?Both ultimately comes from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning “two,” and English preserved it as a dual marker long after most of the language’s older number system vanished.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dwóh₁
“two”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*bai
“both, the two”
Old English
English
bā
“both, both the two”
Old English
English
bēgen / bā
“both (masculine/neuter forms) and both (feminine form)”
Middle English
English
bothe
“both; the two together”
Modern English
English
both
“used to refer to two people or things together”