else

[els]

adjective

1. other than the persons or things mentioned or implied.

   What else could I have done?

2. in addition to the persons or things mentioned or implied.

   Who else was there?

3. other or in addition (used in the possessive following an indefinite pronoun).

   someone else's money.

adverb

1. if not (usually preceded byor ).

   It's a macaw, or else I don't know birds.

2. in some other way; otherwise.

   How else could I have acted?

3. at some other place or time.

   Where else might I find this book?

else

/ ɛls /

determiner

1. in addition; more

   there is nobody else here

2. other; different

   where else could he be?

adverb

1. 1. if not, then

      go away or else I won't finish my work today

   2. or something terrible will result: used as a threat

      sit down, or else!

Grammar Note

The possessive forms of somebody else, everybody else, etc., are somebody else's, everybody else's, the forms somebody's else, everybody's else being considered nonstandard in present-day English. One exception is the possessive for who else, which is occasionally formed as whose else when a noun does not immediately follow: Is this book yours? Whose else could it be? No, it's somebody else's.

Word History and Origins

Origin of else¹

before 1000; Middle English, Old English elles (cognate with Old High German elles ), equivalent to ell- other (cognate with Gothic aljis, Latin alius, Old Irish aile Greek állos, Armenian ayl other; eldritch ) + -es -s 1

Word History and Origins

Origin of else¹

Old English elles, genitive of el- strange, foreign; related to Old High German eli- other, Gothic alja, Latin alius, Greek allos

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. or else, or suffer the consequences.

   Do what I say, or else.

see in someone's (else's) shoes; or else; something else; something else again.

Example Sentences

Alcaraz and 24-year-old Jannik Sinner have cleaned up the past seven major titles between them, having taken their games to a far superior level than anybody else on the ATP Tour.

From BBC

Father Time is clearly catching up with him like everyone else.

From BBC

Where else would you spot former Tory MP and Strictly star Ann Widdecombe accompanied by a stern bodyguard, or former daytime TV star Jeremy Kyle wandering around the exhibition hall?

From BBC

Kotto’s Parker died terribly, but so did everyone else on the Nostromo except for Ripley and the starship’s cat Jonesy.

From Salon

Even without knowing the other side, Rodriguez’s story is confusing: He argues that his lover, who is still married to someone else, was pressured to terminate several pregnancies by her controlling estranged husband.

From Slate