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Webster 1913 Edition

Other

Oth′er

(ŭth′ẽr)
,
c
onj.
[See
Or
.]
Either; – used with other or or for its correlative (as either . . . or are now used).
[Obs.]
Other
of chalk,
other
of glass.
Chaucer.

Oth′er

,
p
ron.
&
Adj.
[AS.
ōðer
; akin to OS.
āðar
,
ōðar
, D. & G.
ander
, OHG.
andar
, Icel.
annarr
, Sw.
annan
, Dan.
anden
, Goth.
anþar
, Skr.
antara
: cf. L.
alter
; all orig. comparatives: cf. Skr.
anya
other. √180. Cf.
Alter
.]
[Formerly
other
was used both as singular and plural.]
1.
Different from that which, or the one who, has been specified; not the same; not identical; additional; second of two.
Each of them made
other
for to win.
Chaucer.
Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the
other
also.
Matt. v. 39.
2.
Not this, but the contrary; opposite;
as, the
other
side of a river
.
3.
Alternate; second; – used esp. in connection with every;
as, every
other
day, that is, each alternate day, every second day
.
4.
Left, as opposed to right.
[Obs.]
A distaff in her
other
hand she had.
Spenser.
☞
Other
is a correlative adjective, or adjective pronoun, often in contrast with
one
,
some
,
that
,
this
, etc.

The
one
shall be taken, and the
other
left.
Matt. xxiv. 41.


And
some
fell among thorns . . . but
other
fell into good ground.
Matt. xiii. 7, 8.


It is also used, by ellipsis, with a noun, expressed or understood.

To write
this
, or to design the
other
.
Dryden.


It is written with the indefinite article as one word, another; is used with each, indicating a reciprocal action or relation; and is employed absolutely, or eliptically for other thing, or other person, in which case it may have a plural.

The fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to
others
.
Ps. xlix. 10.


If he is trimming,
others
are true.
Thackeray.


Other is sometimes followed by but, beside, or besides; but oftener by than.

No
other but
such a one as he.
Coleridge.


Other
lords
beside
thee have had dominion over us.
Is. xxvi. 13.


For
other
foundation can no man lay
than
that is laid.
1 Cor. iii. 11.


The whole seven years of . . . ignominy had been little
other than
a preparation for this very hour.
Hawthorne.
Other some
,
some others.
[Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
–
The other day
,
at a certain time past, not distant, but indefinite; not long ago; recently; rarely, the third day past.

Bind my hair up: as ’t was yesterday?
No, nor
t' other day
.
B. Jonson.

Oth′er

(ŭth′ẽr)
,
adv.
Otherwise.
“It shall none other be.”
Chaucer.
“If you think other.”
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition

Other

OTH'ER

,
Adj.
[Heb.]
1.
Not the same; different; not this or these.
Then the other company which is left shall escape. Gen. 32.
Behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. Ex. 4.
Other lords besides thee have had dominion over us. Is. 26.
There is one God, and there is none other but he. Mark 12.
2.
Not this, but the contrary; as, on this side of the river stands Troy, on the other side stands Albany.
Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. Matt. 5.
3.
Noting something besides. To the knowledge of the Latin and Greek, join as much other learning as you can.
4.
Correlative to each, and applicable to any number of individuals.
They asked each other of their welfare. Ex. 18.
5.
Opposed to some; as,'some fell among thorns - but other fell into good ground.' Matt. 13.
6.
The next.
7.
The third part.
Other is used as a substitute for a noun, and in this use has the plural number, and the sign of the possessive case.
- The fool and the brutish person die, and leave their wealth to others. Ps. 49.
What do ye more than others? Matt. 5.
We were children of wrath even as others. Eph. 2.
The confusion arises, when the one will put their sickle into the other's harvest.
With the sign of the possessive, other is preceded by the, as in the last example.
Other is sometimes put elliptically for other thing. From such a man, we can expect no other.
The other day, at a certain time past, not distant but indefinite; not long ago.

Definition 2024

other

other

See also: oþer

English

Adjective

other ‎(comparative more other, superlative most other)

  1. See other (determiner) below
  2. second.
    I get paid every other week.
  3. Alien.
    • 2010 April 20, anonymous, “Letters”, in Christian Century, volume 127, number 8, page 6:
      In Matthew's account, the law remains intact, as does virtually everything except that critical belief in Jesus as the Messiah (obviously no small thing), and this is not enough to make Matthew completely other from its Jewish origins.
  4. Different.
    • 2001 Fall, Ralph C. Hancock, “The Modern Revolution and the Collapse of Moral Analogy: Tocqueville and Guizot.”, in Perspectives on Political Science, volume 30, number 4, page 213:
      it is inherent, rather, in the revolutionary attempt of the West to externalize the idea of a source of meaning wholly other than what is embodied in human conventions and hierarchies.
  5. (obsolete) Left, as opposed to right.
    • Spenser
      A distaff in her other hand she had.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

other ‎(plural others)

  1. An other one, more often rendered as another.
    I'm afraid little Robbie does not always play well with others.‎
  2. The other one; the second of two.
    One boat is not better than the other.‎
    • 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations
      Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 6, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      He had one hand on the bounce bottle—and he'd never let go of that since he got back to the table—but he had a handkerchief in the other and was swabbing his deadlights with it.
Translations

Determiner

other

  1. Not the one or ones previously referred to.
    Other people would do it differently.‎
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:
      “[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like
        Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […]”
    • 2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
      [Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Adverb

other ‎(not comparable)

  1. Apart from; in the phrase "other than".
    Other than that, I'm fine.
  2. (obsolete) otherwise
    It shall none other be. — Chaucer.
    If you think other. — Shakespeare.
Related terms
Translations

Verb

other ‎(third-person singular simple present others, present participle othering, simple past and past participle othered)

  1. (transitive) To make into an other.
    • 2005, Kristen A. Myers, Racetalk: racism hiding in plain sight:
      "Rican" is code for its homonym, "redskin,"' through which they othered this non-Mexican ethnic group.
    • 2006, Angela Pattatucci Aragon, Challenging lesbian norms:
      That is, whilst Lesfest organisers are othering women who are not born female (thus producing a kind of lesbian-normativity), the Australian WOMAN Network is othering women who have not had surgical sex reassignment (thus producing a kind of "trans-normativity").
    • 2010, Ronald L. Jackson, I, Encyclopedia of Identity:
      Others with admitted addictions are Othered and sadly, forever stigmatized.
  2. (transitive) To treat as different or separate; segregate; ostracise.
    • 2007, Christopher Emdin, City University of New York. Urban Education, Exploring the contexts of urban science classrooms:
      In this scenario, the young lady who had spoken had been othered by her peers and her response to my question had been dismissed as invalid despite the fact that she was alright.
  3. (transitive) (ethnicity or race) To label as "other".
    • 2008, John F. Borland, University of Connecticut, The under-representation of Black females:
      [...] and Black males have not taken her seriously politically (gender); and the color of her skin has marginalized her (race and "othered" her when compared with White women, who have also worked to silence her political views.
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Probably Old English oþþe.

Conjunction

other

  1. (obsolete) Or.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, Book VII:
      And if that I had nat had my prevy thoughtis to returne to youre love agayne as I do, I had sene as grete mysteryes as ever saw my sonne Sir Galahad other Percivale, other Sir Bors.

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: our · than · some · #66: other · very · upon · man

Anagrams


Old Frisian

Adjective

ōther

  1. other, not the one previously referred to
  2. (ordinal numeral) second

Descendants

  • North Frisian:
    Föhr-Amrum: öler
    Hallig: öör
    Helgoland: uur
    Mooring: ouder
  • West Frisian: oar

Etymology

From Middle English other, from Old English ōþer ‎(“other, second”), from Proto-Germanic *anþeraz ‎(“other, second”), from Proto-Indo-European *ánteros ‎(“other”). Cognate with Scots uther, ither ‎(“other”), Old Frisian ōther, ("other"; > North Frisian üđer, ööder, ouder), Old Saxon ōthar ‎(“other”), Old High German ander ‎(“other”), Old Norse annarr, øðr-, aðr- ‎(“other, second”), Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌸𐌰𐍂 ‎(anþar, “other”), Old Prussian anters, antars ‎(“other, second”), Lithuanian antroks ‎(“other”, pronoun), Latvian otrs, otrais ‎(“second”), Russian второ́й ‎(vtorój, “second”), Albanian ndërroj ‎(“to change, switch, alternate”), Sanskrit अन्तर ‎(ántara, “different”), Sanskrit अन्य ‎(anyá, “other, different”).

Pronunciation

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