else
/ɛls/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.38 in modern English
4
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Other; in addition to previously mentioned items.
adv
Otherwise, if not.
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "Prospero: Thou hast done well, fine Ariel. Follow me; Hark what thou else shalt do me."
- "As with most else in society, early Americans believed that health and healing were in God's hand."
- "How else (= in what other way) can it be done?"
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɛls/
- British English: /ɛls/