both

英文詞源

both

both: [12] The Old English word for ‘both’ was bēgen (masculine; the feminine and neuter form was bā), a relative of a wide range of Indo- European words denoting ‘each of two’, including the second syllables of Old Slavic oba and Latin ambō (represented in English ambidextrous). Most Germanic languages extended the base form by adding -d or -th (as in German beide ‘both’). In the case of Old Norse, this produced bāthir, the form from which English acquired both.
=> ambidextrous

both (adj., pron.)

there are several theories, all similar, and deriving the word from the tendency to say "both the." One is that it is Old English begen (masc.) "both" (from Proto-Germanic *ba, from PIE *bho "both") + -t extended base. Another traces it to the Proto-Germanic formula represented in Old English by ba ta "both these," from ba (feminine nominative and accusative of begen) + ta, nominative and accusative plural of se "that." A third traces it to Old Norse baeir "both," from *bai thaiz "both the," from Proto-Germanic *thaiz, third person plural pronoun. Compare similar formation in Old Frisian bethe, Dutch beide, Old High German beide, German beide, Gothic bajots.