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English
Etymology
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.
Pronunciation
Adjective
else (not comparable)
- (postpositive, used only with indefinite or interrogative pronouns) Other; in addition to previously mentioned items.
The instructor is busy. Can anyone else help me? Whatever else she may be, she is not a surgeon. When all else fails, read the instructions.
1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:Prospero:
Thou hast done well, fine Ariel. Follow me;
Hark what thou else shalt do me.
2013, Keith T. Krawczynski, Daily Life in the Colonial City:As with most else in society, early Americans believed that health and healing were in God's hand.
Usage notes
- This adjective usually follows an indefinite or interrogative pronoun, as in the examples above. In other cases, the adjective other is typically used.
Derived terms
Terms derived from the adjective else Translations
Adverb
else (not comparable)
- (usually follows interrogative adverbs) Otherwise, if not.
How else (= in what other way) can it be done? I'm busy Friday; when else (= what other time) works for you?
Usage notes
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
word that implies any result with the exception of the one being referred to
- Bulgarian: иначе (bg) (inače), освен това (osven tova)
- Danish: ellers
- Dutch: zoniet (nl), anders (nl), in het andere geval
- Esperanto: alie (eo)
- Finnish: muuten (fi)
- French: sinon (fr), autrement (fr)
- Georgian: სხვანაირად (sxvanairad), სხვაგვარად (sxvagvarad)
- German: sonst (de), anders (de), andernfalls (de), ansonsten (de)
- Greek: αλλιώς (el) (alliós)
- Hungarian: (of manner [all]) máshogy (hu), máshogyan (hu), másként (hu), másképp (hu), (of time) máskor (hu)
- Italian: altro (it)
- Japanese: 然も無くば (samonakuba)
- Latin: alioqui
- Lithuanian: o dar
- Polish: inaczej (pl)
- Portuguese: senão (pt), em vez de (pt), além disso (pt)
- Russian: ина́че (ru) (ináče)
- Slovak: inak
- Spanish: más (es), sino (es)
- Swedish: annars (sv)
- Tamil: வேறு (ta) (vēṟu)
- Yiddish: אַנישט (anisht), אַניט (anit)
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Translations to be checked Conjunction
else
- For otherwise; or else.
Then the Wronskian of f and g must be nonzero, else they could not be linearly independent.
1903 July, Jack London, “The Law of Club and Fang”, in The Call of the Wild, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page 44:He had never seen dogs fight as these wolfish creatures fought, and his first experience taught him an unforgetable lesson. It is true, it was a vicarious experience, else he would not have lived to profit by it.
Derived terms
Translations
See also
Anagrams
- slee, Slee, lese, lees, EELS, Lees, eels, seel, sele, ELEs, l'ees
Italian
Noun
else f
- plural of elsa
Anagrams
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