Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BOTH, a. [Sax. butu, butwu, or batwa, (qu. Goth. bayoths;) Ir. beit; Sw. båda; Dan. baade; D. and Ger. beide; in ancient African, בת bet, beth, two. Buxt. 1866.]

Two, considered as distinct from others or by themselves; the one and the other; Fr. tous les deux; l'un et l'autre; as, here are two books, take them both. This word is often placed before the nouns with which it is connected. He understands how to manage both public and private concerns. – Guth. Quintilian, p. 4. It is often used as a substitute for nouns. And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant. – Gen. xxi. Both often represents two members of a sentence. He will not bear the loss of his rank, because he can bear the loss of his estate; but he will bear both, because he is prepared for both. – Bolingbroke on Exile. Both often pertains to adjectives or attributes, and in this case generally precedes them in construction; as, he endeavored to render commerce both disadvantageous and infamous. – Mickle's Lusiad.