Else

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /É›ls/
• (colloquial) IPA: /É›lts/
• Rhymes: -É›ls

Origin

From Middle English, from Old English elles ("other, otherwise, different"), from Proto-Germanic *aljas ("of another, of something else"), genitive of *aljaz ("other"), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elios, *al- ("other", pronoun.). 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, , (Modern Greek αλλιώς (alliṓs, "otherwise, else")).

Full definition of else

Adjective

1. Other; in addition to previously mentioned items.Can anyone else (=any other person) help me?What else (=what other thing) is there?

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

Adverb

1. 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

(otherwise) This word frequently follows interrogative adverbs, such as how, why, and when, as well as the derived however, why ever, and whenever.

Synonyms

• otherwise

Derived terms

• or else

Conjunction

1. For otherwise; or else.Then the Wronskian of f and g must be nonzero, else they could not be linearly independent.
2. (computing, in many programming languages and pseudocode) but if the condition of the previous if clause is false, do the following.if (edits.Count == 0) { NoEditsLabel.Visible = true; }else { EditHistory.Show(edits); }

Anagrams

• eels, lees, lese, seel, sele