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else

UK/ɛlts/ US/ɛls/ very common
adverb (2) adjective (2)

adverb

1.

additional to or different from this one or place or time or manner

  • “nobody else is here”
  • “she ignored everything else”
  • “I don”
  • “;”
  • “;”
  • “t decide how else it could be done”
2.

(usually used with `or'') if not, then

  • “watch your step or else you may fall”
  • “leave or else I”

adjective

1.

other than what is under consideration or implied

  • “ask somebody else”
  • “I don”
  • “;”
Similar
2.

more

  • “would you like anything else?”
  • “I have nothing else to say”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Middle English ells, elles, from Old English elles (“other, otherwise, different”), from Proto-West Germanic *alljas, from Proto-Germanic *aljas (“of another, of something else”), genitive of *aljaz (“other”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂élyos, from *h₂el- (“other”). Cognate with Old Frisian elles (“other”), Old High German elles, ellies (“other”), Danish eller (“or”), Danish ellers (“otherwise”), Swedish eljes, eljest (“or else, otherwise”), Norwegian elles (“else, otherwise”), Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌹𐍃 (aljis, “other”), Latin alius (“other, another”), Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos), Arcadocypriot αἶλος (aîlos), modern Greek αλλιώς (alliós, “otherwise, else”), Proto-Slavic *olni.

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.