Other
Word Origin and History for other
adj.
Old English oþer "the second" (adj.), also as a pronoun, "one of the two,other," from Proto-Germanic *antharaz (cf. Old Saxon athar, Old Frisianother, Old Norse annarr, Middle Dutch and Dutch ander, Old High Germanandar, German ander, Gothic anþar "other").
These are from PIE *an-tero-, variant of *al-tero- "the other of two" (cf.Lithuanian antras, Sanskrit antarah "other, foreign," Latin alter), from root*al- "beyond" (see alias ) + adjectival comparative suffix *-tero-. The OldEnglish, Old Saxon, and Old Frisian forms show "a normal loss of n beforefricatives" [Barnhart]. Meaning "different" is mid-13c.
Sense of "second" was detached from this word in English (which usessecond, from Latin) and German ( zweiter, from zwei "two") to avoidambiguity. In Scandinavian, however, the second floor is still the "other"floor (e.g. Swedish andra, Danish anden). Also cf. Old English oþergeara"next year."
The other woman "a woman with whom a man begins a love affair whilehe is already committed" is from 1855. The other day originally (mid-12c.)was "the next day;" later (c.1300) "yesterday;" and now, loosely, "a dayor two ago" (early 15c.). Phrase other half in reference to either the pooror the rich, is recorded from c.1600.
These are from PIE *an-tero-, variant of *al-tero- "the other of two" (cf.Lithuanian antras, Sanskrit antarah "other, foreign," Latin alter), from root*al- "beyond" (see alias ) + adjectival comparative suffix *-tero-. The OldEnglish, Old Saxon, and Old Frisian forms show "a normal loss of n beforefricatives" [Barnhart]. Meaning "different" is mid-13c.
Sense of "second" was detached from this word in English (which usessecond, from Latin) and German ( zweiter, from zwei "two") to avoidambiguity. In Scandinavian, however, the second floor is still the "other"floor (e.g. Swedish andra, Danish anden). Also cf. Old English oþergeara"next year."
The other woman "a woman with whom a man begins a love affair whilehe is already committed" is from 1855. The other day originally (mid-12c.)was "the next day;" later (c.1300) "yesterday;" and now, loosely, "a dayor two ago" (early 15c.). Phrase other half in reference to either the pooror the rich, is recorded from c.1600.
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