▪ I. and, n.
breath, animus: see ande.
▪ II. and, conj.1 formerly prep.
(ænd, ənd, famil. ən, (ə)n)
Forms: 1– and; also 1 end, ond, 2–5 ant, 3–7 an, 8–9 dial. an', 3–4 occas. a; but usually expressed by the compendium for L. et, in OE. {oeamp}, later &, & (‘And per se’), so that it is impossible to tell the full form intended.
[OE. shows two forms: (1) and, ǫnd(:—OTeut. *anda) OFris. anda, and, OS. ant, OHG. ant, Goth. anda-, and, ON. and-, prep. ‘against, fronting’; (2) ęnd(:—OTeut. *andi) OFris. ande, and, an, end, en, OHG. anti, enti, inti, unti, endi, indi, unde, MHG. unde, und, unt, mod.G. und, Du. en, conj.; cf. L. ante before, Gr. ἀντί against, Skr. (Vedic) ant{iacu} over against, locative of antá ‘end, boundary, vicinity,’ hence ‘on the frontier of, abutting on, fronting, facing.’ From the idea of opposition, juxtaposition, or antithesis, the word was used in the Teut. langs. to express the mutual relation of notions and propositions. The general Teut. form of the conj. is *andi, of the prep. *and(a; in OE., with the early loss of ęnd, and (ǫnd) remained for both, but soon became obs. as prep., exc. in a few derivatives: see C. The levelling of OE. ǫnd, ęnd, under the single form and was no doubt helped by the fact that the conj. is nearly always unemphatic, so that the vowel is obscured and tends to sink to a mere voice glide ((ə)nd). From the same cause the final d has from early times been often dropped, as now universally in the dialects, and commonly in familiar speech: bread and butter = bread 'n butter. See also an conj.]
† A. prep. (in OE. governing dat.) Obs.
† 1. Of local relation: Before, in presence of.
| a 1000 Cædmon 13 Hæfdon gleám and dreám and heora ordfruman [i.e. joy and mirth in presence of their creator]. |
† 2. Of logical relation: By the side of, besides, along with, in addition to.
| a 1000 Menol. (Grein) 211 Emb eahta niht and feówerum. Ibid. 188 Ymb twentiᵹ and f{iacu}f nihtum [cf. 161 Ymbe twá niht]. |
B. conj. co-ordinate. (Introducing a word, clause, or sentence, which is to be taken side by side with, along with, or in addition to, that which precedes it.) I. Connecting words.
1. a. Simply connective.
| c 700 Epinal Gl. (Sweet O.E.T. 42) Adqueve, ænd suilcæ. c 875 Erfurt Gl. (ibid.) Atqueve, end suilce. c 700 Cædmon Hymn 2 Metudæs mæcti end his modgidanc. 871 O.E. Chron., æðeréd cyning ond [MS. {oeamp}] ælfred his broður. a 1154 Ibid. (Laud. MS.) an. 1135 Þa men..carl-men and wimmen. 1205 Lay. 5461 Sorwen an kare. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 485 Twin-wifing ant twin-manslaȝt. Ibid. 647 Noe..an is ðre sunen. c 1300 Dial. Sol. & Sat. (Kemble) II. 270 Wyt ant wysdom. 1382 Wyclif Gen. i. 1 Heuene and erthe. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 169 My master and his man are both broke loose. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 2 ¶1 Both in Town and Country. 1711 Addison ibid. No. 126 ¶2 We do in our Consciences believe two and two make four. 1846 Grote Greece (1869) I. i. 45 The immortal food, nectar and ambrosia. 1859 Tennyson Elaine 1185 The bond of man and wife. |
b. It is used to connect the unit numbers with the tens when they precede, but not when they follow, as one and twenty, twenty-one; to connect (units or) tens to hundreds (or thousands), as two hundred and one, three thousand and twenty-one, six thousand two hundred and fifty-six; to connect fractions to wholes, as four and a half, a pound and three quarters, an hour and twenty minutes, also with shillings and pence, as three and sixpence (fam. three and six); but not usually with different denominations of weights and measures, as two pound(s ten shillings (or two pound ten); four pound(s, six ounces; five foot, six inches; nor in ‘railway time,’ nine forty-eight (48 minutes past nine).
| c 950 Lindisf. G. John xxi. 11 Full mið miclum fiscum, hunteantiᵹ {oeamp} fiftiᵹ {oeamp} ðreo. 973 O.E. Chron., Seofon and twentiᵹ..ðusend a-{uacu}rnen. Ibid., Niᵹon and xx..wintra on worulde. 1150 Ibid. an. 1137, xx winter & half ᵹær & viij dæis. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 657 Nine hundred ȝer and fifti told, Or or he starf, noe was old. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4554 When þai haf liggen dede..Thre days and an half. 1382 Wyclif Gen. v. 20 Al the daies of Jared ben maad nyne hundrid ȝeer and two and sixti. Enok lyued fyue and sixti ȝeer [1611 Nine hundred sixtie and two yeeres;—sixtie and fiue yeeres]. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxix. (1495) 937 The Stadiall felde conteyneth syxe score pace and fyue, that is syxe hundryd fote and fyue, and twenty and eyȝte suche makyth a myle. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xc. 10 The dayes of oure age are iij. score yeares & ten. 1673 Ray Journ. Low Countr. 3 We..at a League and halfs end came to a Lock. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 431 ¶2, I am now entering into my One and Twentieth year. Mod. Six-and-eightpence, and costs. Nursery Rime, Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie. |
c. Formerly, in expressing two dimensions of space, where we now use by.
| 1667 Primatt City & Country Build. 64 The principal Rafters being nine and seven inches. |
d. and all: see all A 8 c.
2. Expressing continuous repetition: a. repetition of numerical groups; as in ‘they walked two and two’ = by twos, two and then other two and so on, two preceded and followed by two continuously.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark vi. 7 [He] agan hi sendan twam {oeamp} twam. 1205 Lay. 24749 æuer tweie and tweie · tuhte to⁓somne. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2323 He gan hem ransaken on and on. c 1460 Townl. Myst. 296, I lefe it you bi oone and oone. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. iii. 104 Must we all marche? Yea, two and two, Newgate fashion. 1630 Wadsworth Sp. Pilgr. v. 38 Putting foure and foure to an oare. 1830 Tennyson L. Shalott ii. 25 The knights come riding two and two. |
b. repetition to an indefinite extent; as for ever and ever; miles and miles = miles and yet more miles, miles upon miles, miles without number.
| 1086 O.E. Chron., A hit wyrsode swiðor and swiðor. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 49 Heo delueð deihwamliche..deoppre and deoppre. c 1200 Ormin 205 Ice amm Gabriæl þatt æfre and æfre stannde Biforenn Godd. c 1230 Ancr. R. 288 Deopeð into þe soule..furðre & furðre. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. i. 35, I haue borne, and borne, and borne. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. iv. v. 256 Ile kill thee euery where, yea, ore and ore. 1820 Shelley Skylark ii, Higher still and higher. a 1824 Byron Lett. (M.) I have lived for months and months on shipboard. 1843 Dickens Christmas Carol i, Many and many a day. a 1884 Mod. To roll over and over down hill. Wet through and through. |
3. Emphatically. a. Opposed to or.
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. (1872) I. vii. ix. 239 He can only answer Yes or No; would so gladly answer Yes and No. |
b. Expressing a difference of quality between things of the same name or class; = and also, and other. (Commonly called a French idiom, and referred to Molière's ‘il y a fagots et fagots’: perhaps so in recent use, but found in Eng. a century before the production of Le Médecin malgré lui in 1666.)
| a 1569 A. Kingsmill Confl. w. Satan (1578) 39 There is a sinne and a sinne: much oddes betweene the committing of sinnes in the reprobate and the elect. 1633 Earl of Manchester Al Mondo (1636) 86 A heart and a heart God cannot abide. 1855 Browning Heretic's Trag. Wks. 1863 I. 289 Alack, there be roses and roses, John! 1883 W. Pollock in Harper's Mag. 909/1 There are, in the first place, photographs and photographs. |
c. and/or: a formula denoting that the items joined by it can be taken either together or as alternatives.
| 1855 Law Jrnl. Reports XXIV. ii. Excheq. 199/2 The parties were to ‘load a full and complete cargo of sugar, molasses, and / or other lawful produce’..the words ‘and’ and ‘or’ being introduced into the charter-party. 1895 Pollock & Maitland Hist. Eng. Law I. i. v. 152 In medieval Latin vel will often stand for and... Often it is like the and / or of our mercantile documents. 1916 H. Barber Aeroplane Speaks ii. 85 The jamming of the rudder and/or elevator. 1929 Penrose's Ann. XXXI. 99 A good proportion of cotton and/or linen in the furnish of a paper. 1959 Camb. Rev. 2 May 454/2 The Press has rather plumped for the scholar as writer, and/or as bibliophile. 1960 E. Bowen Time in Rome iii. 82 The young set-apart creature, waiting at home for her fifteenth birthday and/or the next vacancy in the Atrium. |
4. Connecting two adjectives of which the former logically stands in (or approaches to) an adverbial relation to the latter; esp. in familiar language, and dialectally, after nice, fine. Cf. good adv. d.
| 1575 R. Laneham Let. in Leisure Hour (1884) 631/1, I am..jolly and dry of a mornings. [1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. ii. 8 Her Vestal liuery is but sicke and green. 1604 ― Oth. iv. ii. 56 His slow and mouing finger.] 1846 [see nice a. 15 d]. a 1884 Mod. fam. That will make you nice and warm. Cut it nice and thin. The grass is fine and tall. 1887 T. Darlington Folk-Speech of S. Cheshire 109 ‘Fine an' vexed’ = exceedingly vexed. |
† 5. Before both words connected: = Both ― and ―. (L., Fr. et ― et ―.) Obs. (or only a Latinism.)
| c 1175 Cott. Hom. 239 Forté isi and frend and fend. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Treat. 30 Þou sall be made and bryghte and clene. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 242/4 To thende that he wold not leue them and disheryted and orphanes he made his testament. a 1520 Myrr. Our Ladye 146 He ys now gloryfyed in heuen and in soulle and body. |
6. When many notions (or clauses) are connected, and is in ordinary prose expressed only with the last. But formerly, and still in illiterate composition, it is used with every member; rhetorically, also, it may be so used, to emphasize the number of points, or length of the series.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 4 Of Lyncolne, and of Chestre, and of Wircester. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 273 Loue and louhnesse and leute to-gedere. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. cxcii. 168 Al tho that myghte trauaylle, as wel monkes and preestes and frerys and chanons and seculeres. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. ii. ii. 80 Warnings and portents and evils imminent. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. v. xiii, Sorrow, and sin, and shame. 1846 Grote Greece (1869) I. i. 46 Dance and song and athletic contests adorned the Solemnity. |
II. Connecting co-ordinate clauses or sentences.
7. Simply connective. a. additive.
| 855 O.E. Chron. (Parker MS.) an. 534 Her Cerdic forþ ferde, {oeamp} [? ond] Cynric his sunu ricsode. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. ii. 20 Aris ænd nim þæt cild, and his moder. c 1200 Moral Ode 159 Þer men luȝen her ent stelen. a 1250 Owl & Night. 31 The niȝtingale hi i-seȝ..An thuȝte wel ful of thare hule. a 1300 Havelok 359 Him for to hoslon, an for to shriue. 1502 Arnold Chron. (1811) 223 He was howsled and anelid and soo died. 1751 Johnson Rambl. No. 165 ¶3 The brightest hours of prosperity have their clouds, and the stream of life..will grow putrid by stagnation. 1756 Burke Vind. Nat. Soc. Wks. I. 9, I then thought, and am still of the same opinion. 1832 Carlyle in Remin. (1881) I. 9, I often wondered and admired at this. 1879 Tennyson Lover's T. 54 Love mourn'd long, and sorrow'd after Hope. |
b. adversative.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xii. 7 Ic wille mild-heortnysse, and na onsæᵹdnysse. 1366 Mandeville 51 Thei wenen that thei han bawme, and thei have non. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 69 He complayneth and I playne not. 1611 Bible Matt. xxii. 30 Hee said, I goe sir, and went not. |
8. Introducing a consequence: a. the historical sequel or consequence of a fact.
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. i. 3 God cwæþ þa · ᵹeweorþe leoht: and leoht wearð ᵹeworht. 1382 Wyclif ibid., God seide, Be maad liȝt: and maad is light. 1611 ibid., God said Let there be light: and there was light. ― Luke vii. 8, I say vnto one Goe, and he goeth; and to another Come, and hee commeth. 1667 Pepys Diary 30 June, A pretty young woman, and I did kiss her. 1821 Keats Lamia 441 You have dismiss'd me, and I go From your breast houseless. 1879 A. Clark tr. Rydberg's Rom. Days, A few paces from the trattoria, and I stood on the Forum Romanum. Mod. He spoke, and all was still. |
b. the predicted consequence or fulfilment of a command, or of a hypothesis put imperatively, or elliptically.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. viii. 8 Cweð þin án word, and mine cnapa bið ᵹehæled. 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 344 Werke by counseil, and thou schalt nat rewe. 1388 Wyclif John xvi. 16 A litil, and thanne ȝe schuln not se me. 1557 (Genev.) ibid., A litle whyle, and ye shal not see me. 1611 Bible Luke x. 28 This do, and thou shalt liue. 17.. Sc. Paraphr. xxxv, My broken body thus I give For you, for all—take, eat, and live. 1799 Allingham Fort. Frol. i. iii, Gee' us a buss, and I'll tell thee. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey vi. ii. 296 Five minutes more, and our son must have reigned in Little Lilliput. a 1884 Mod. Give him an inch, and he will take an ell. Speak one word, and you are a dead man! 1896 A. Austin Eng. Darling iii. i. 63 Face a head gust and it will steady you. 1933 D. L. Sayers Murder must Advertise iv. 72 Spray with Sanfect and you're safe. |
9. Introducing an explanatory, amplificative, or parenthetic clause or phrase.
| 996 Cod. Dipl. III. 295 Ȝesyllan ælce ᵹeare xv leaxas, and ða ᵹode. 1205 Lay. 2360 Makian an eorð-hus..& þæt inne swiðe feire stude. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 43 A knyght ther was, and that a worthy man. c 1460 Townl. Myst. 259 Into this dongeon depe I soght, And alle for luf of the. 1610 Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 317, I heard a humming (And that a strange one too). 1710 Rowe J. Shore i. i, Yet there is one, and he amongst the foremost. 1818–1884 [see mistake n. 2 c]. 1843 Dickens Christmas Carol i, Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change. 1853 [see wonder n. 6 e]. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 323 He and he alone has done all this. 1869 A. Morris Open Secret xi. 194 To think that we are, and we only are, to blame. a 1884 Mod. You doubt his capacity, and with reason. 1890 F. Goldie Ven. Ed. Arrowsmith (C.T.S.) 2 Robert Arrowsmith's father..was often thrown into gaol—and we know what gaols were in those days. 1914 S. A. Hirsch in A. G. Little R. Bacon v. 128 Another large portion of the Greek Grammar is taken up by Bacon's treatment of accentuation and prosody (pp. 95–144), and no wonder! 1930 G. K. Chesterton Resurr. Rome v. 202 The French would certainly have recovered the stolen French provinces whenever they could; and quite right too. |
10. Connecting two verbs the latter of which would logically be in the infinitive, esp. after go, come, send, try; familiarly and dialectally after various others.
| [1526 Tindale Acts xi. 4 Peter began and expounde the thinge.] 1671 Milton P.R. i. 224 At least to try and teach the erring soul. 1780 Mrs. Thrale Let. 10 June (1788) II. 150 Do go to his house, and thank him. 1819 Moore in N.Q. Ser. i. (1854) IX. 76/1 Went to the theatre to try and get a dress. 1878 Jevons Prim. Pol. Econ. 42 If every trade were thus to try and keep all other people away. Mod. You will come and see us sometimes, won't you? |
III. Introductory.
11. Continuing the narration: a. from a previous sentence, expressed or understood.
| 855 O.E. Chron. (Parker MS.) an. 855 Ond þa fengon æþelwulfes suna tweᵹen to rice. a 1154 Ibid. (Laud. MS.) an. 1140 And te eorl of Angæ u wærd ded, & his sune Henri toc to þe rice. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 140 An whi not thanne Crist schulde allowe and approve men for to have and use a Graven Ymage of the Emperour in hevene? 1595 Shakes. John iv. i. 40 A. Must you with hot Irons burne out both mine eyes? H. Yong Boy, I must. A. And will you? H. And I will. 1611 Bible John xxi. 21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? 1846 Grote Greece (1869) I. i. 29 And thus she remained a whole year. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia v. (1869) 69 And why could not you run away, boy? 1861 Lytton Pilgr. Rhine (beginning) And the stars sat each upon his ruby throne and looked with sleepless eyes upon the world. |
b. from the implied assent to a previous question or opinion, = Yes! and; as ‘Will you go?’ ‘And take you with me.’ ‘This applies to all men, I suppose?’ ‘And to women too.’
| 1847 Helps Friends in C. Ser. i. I. 284 E. ‘It gives new life to politics.’ M. ‘And not to politics only.’ 1853 Kingsley Hypatia v. 61 ‘You are now to obey me.’ ‘And I will.’ |
12. In expressing surprise at, or asking the truth of, what one has already heard.
| a 1788 W. J. Mickle Nae Luck aboot the House, And are ye sure the news is true? And are ye sure he's weel? c 1800 Jolly young Waterman, And have you not heard of that jolly young waterman, That at Blackfriars' Bridge used for to ply? 1844 Disraeli Coningsby iii. iii. 96 ‘And you walked here!’ said Lady Everingham. a 1884 Mod. O John! and you have seen him! And are you really going? |
IV. Quasi-adverbially.
† 13. Also; even. (A Latinism.) Obs. (or arch.)
| 1382 Wyclif John xv. 23 He that hatith me, hatith and [1388 also] my fadir. [Vulg. Qui me odit, et patrem meum odit]. ― Wisd. xviii. 20 Thanne forsothe touchede and [1388 also] riȝtwismen the temptacioun of deth. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 519 If thin answere now mad to my questiouns is good, and such thanne a lijk answere schal be good..to thi Questioun. 1558 Bp. T. Watson 7 Sacr. xvi. 98 b, He that hath promysed pardone vnto vs, whensoeuer we conuerte, dothe not promise vnto vs longe lyfe and to lyue whyle to morowe. |
C. conj. conditional, = if. [This was a common use of MHG. unde; the ON. enda (which Vigfusson thinks ‘probably identical’ with and, while Sievers would see in it a reduced form of enn þó, even though) approached this use, in the latter clause of a conditional premiss, as ‘ef þ{uacu} þorir, enda sér þ{uacu} nokkut at manni..’ ‘if thou darest, and (supposing that) thou art something of a man..’ (Vigf.). It has been suggested that the Eng. use was derived from that of Norse enda, but this is very doubtful. More probably the idiom arose in Eng. independently, as in MHG. It may have originated from ellipsis, as in the analogous use of so, e.g. ‘I'll cross the sea, so it please my lord’ (Shakes.); cf. ‘and it please’; or it may be connected with the introductory and in ‘And you are going?’ A direct development from the original prepositional sense, though à priori plausible, is on historical grounds improbable. Modern writers, chiefly since Horne Tooke, have treated this as a distinct word, writing it an, a spelling occas. found c1600, esp. in an' 't = and it. See an conj.]
1. a. If; suppose that, provided that, on condition that.
| 1205 Lay. 8313 And þu hit nult ileuen..ich hit wulle trousien. 1250 Ibid. 3524 Help him nou an þou miht. a 1300 Havelok 2861 And þou wile my conseil tro, Ful wel shal ich with þe do. c 1300 Harrow. Hell 11 Ant he were at this worldes fyne. c 1314 Guy Warw. 12 Leuest thing me were to dye And Ich wist bi wiche weye. 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 69, I salle..Help þe..& euer I se þat day. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour D vj b, For and she be wyse she ought to thynke, etc. 1526 Tindale Matt. xix. 17 But and thou wilt entre into lyfe. 1529 More Comf. agst. Trib. ii. Wks. 1557, 1170/2 Gesse her and you can. 1540 R. Hyrde Vives' Instruct. Chr. Wom. I vj, Let her chaunge her place..and need be. 1547 Homilies i. (1859) 108 And it please your grace, you did once promise me. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. i. ii. 94 And you will not, sir, Ile take my heeles. 1612 Shelton Quix. i. iii. viii. 183 They may tell it and they please. 1625 Bacon Ess. (1862) 97 They will set an House on Fire, and it were but to roast their Egges. 1711 J. Greenwood Eng. Gram. 163 Sometimes And is used for If: As, and you please, for, if you please. See also an conj. |
b. Strengthened with following if: ‘and if,’ ‘an' if,’ in same sense.
The common s.w. dial. form of if is now nif = 'n if, an if. (See Elworthy West-Somerset Gram. p. 93.)
| c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 17 Þerfor lerne þe byleue leuest me were And if any werldly wiȝt wisse me couþe. a 1400 Chester Pl. 27 We shoulde dye..and yf we touch that tree. 1523 Ld. Berners Froissart I. xxviii. 41 He wolde haue had his right, and yf he wyst how. 1526 Tindale Matt. vi. 14 For and yff ye shall forgeve other men there treaspases. ― ibid. xxiv. 48 But and yf that evill servaunt shall saye [so Cranm., Genev., 1611; Wycl. and Rhem. But if]. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. i. i. 75 A Sheepe doth very often stray, And if the Shepheard be awhile away. 1673 Lady's Call. i. §1. ¶27 But and if on the other side they meet with one of too much sagacity. 1859 Tennyson Enid 1402 An if he live, we will have him of our band. |
2. Concessive: ‘Even if,’ passing into ‘although.’
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 864 And ȝe ar iolyf gentylmen your iapes ar ille. c 1400 Apol. for Loll. 40 And He was riche, He was mad nedy for vs. 1526 Tindale Mark vi. 56 Thatt they myght touche and hit wer but the edge off hys vesture. [So Cranm., Genev.; Rhem. & 1611, If it were.] a 1553 Udall Royster D. i. ii, He shall go without hir and he were my brother. a 1593 Marlowe Jew of Malta ii. ii, I must have one that's sickly, An't be but for sparing victuals. 1658 T. Wall Enemies of Ch. 33 Religious they will be and 't be but for the benefit they receive thereby. |
† 3. = ‘As if,’ ‘as though.’ Obs.
| a 1423 James I King's Q. v. x, A maner smylyng make And sche were glad. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. ii. 86, I will roar you an 'twere any Nightingale. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. i. ii. 139 O he smiles valiantly..Oh yes, and 't were a clow'd in Autumne. |
† 4. ind. interrog.: If, whether (L. an). Obs. illiterate, or dial.
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 195 To spy an I can heare my Thisbys face. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. iv. i, To feel an there be any brain in it. 1602 ― Poetaster i. i, Ask him an he will clem me. |
¶ Used subst. An expression of condition or doubt.
| 1513, 1613 [see if n.]. 1638 Chillingworth Relig. Prot. i. vii. §10. 395 Whence without all Ifs and Ands, that appeares sufficiently which I said in the beginning. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 723 Absolutely, and without any ifs and ands. 1683 Hooker Pordage's Myst. Div. 137 An absolute approbation..without any cautions, qualifications, ifs or ands. Proverb, If ifs and an's were pots and pans, there'd be no trade for tinkers. 1823 tr. J. Campan's Mem. M. Antoinette (ed. 2) I. x. 259 Five different requests—such an office, or such a mark of distinction, or..and so on... The ors were changed into ands. |
D. As n. and adj. A Boolean function of two or more variables that has the value unity if and only if each variable has this value. Usu. attrib. and in capitals, esp. designating devices for realizing this function.
| [1938: see or conj.2 (adv.3) 8.] 1946 J. P. Eckert in Theory & Techniques Design Electronic Digital Computers (Univ. Penn.) (1947) II. xv. 9 In an ‘and’ circuit, when an impulse A and an impulse B are received on a set of terminals, an output will be given. 1950, etc. [see not adv. and n. 14]. 1960 M. G. Say et al. Analogue & Digital Computers viii. 165 The ‘and’ and ‘or’ operations may be performed by the diode gates. 1967 Electronics 6 Mar. 157/2 Utilogic is a line built around a basic AND and a basic NOR circuit. 1971 J. H. Smith Digital Logic iv. 51 The AND function, like the OR, is used for simplifying circuit arrangements but does not form the basis for a complete logic system. 1984 J. Hilton Choosing & using your Home Computer 51/1 Combinations of AND, OR and NOT allow all decisions based on conventional logic to be made. |
Add: [D.] b. Special Comb. AND gate, a circuit which produces an output only when signals are received simultaneously through all input connections.
| 1959 Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. XXXVIII. 50 The operation of the Laddic as an *AND gate. 1984 J. Hilton Choosing & using your Home Computer iii. 52/2 If the two AND gates have their outputs connected to an OR gate, the output of the OR gate will be true only if one, and one only, of the inputs is true. |
▪ III. † and, conj.2 after comparatives. Obs.
An erroneous literary expansion of northern dial. 'an, en ‘than’ [perhaps a. ON. an, en, enn (Da. end) apocopate form of the same word as Eng. than], formally confused with an', dialectal and familiar form of the preceding word. After other, otherwise, it may however literally render L. alius, aliter ac.
| 1463 Marg. Paston in Lett. 480 II. 142 Bettyr and ye have be befor thys tyme. c 1500 Cock Lorell's Bote 7 Fayrer and euer the halfe strete was. 1554 Philpot Exam. & Writ. 339 Otherwise and ye suppose. 1565 Eccl. Proc. Durh. (1857) 597 Likned togither more and 2 yere. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, ii. iii. 12 Hee's in Arthurs Bosome, if euer man went to Arthurs Bosome: a made a finer end, and went away and it had beene any Christome Child. |