Word.ws English Dictionary

and

/ˈænd/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈand/

and conjunction: used simply to connect two noun phrases, adjectives or adverbs.

Conjunction

and

  1. Used simply to connect two noun phrases, adjectives or adverbs.
    • Soupes dorye. — Take gode almaunde mylke […] caste þher-to Safroun an Salt […]c. 1430 (reprinted 1888), Thomas Austin, ed., Two Fifteenth-century Cookery-books. Harleian ms. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harl. ms. 4016 (ab. 1450), with Extracts from Ashmole ms. 1429, Laud ms. 553, & Douce...
    • Sweet lady, you have given me life and living; […]c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  2. Simply connecting two clauses or sentences.
    • When she saw several boys carrying a huge wooden case full of porcelain, she mumbled to Jinming that she was going to have a look, and left the room.1991, Jung Chang, Wild Swans
    • "Consensus is essential for the country," he said, adding that he was not "tied" to his post and was willing to step aside.2011 November 5, Helena Smith, Tom Kington, The Guardian
  3. Introducing a clause or sentence which follows on in time or consequence from the first.
    • I'd been walking since sunrise, and I was hungry.
    • ‘But if you think you can get it, Christian, you're a fool. Set one foot upcountry and I'll kill you.’1996, David Beasley, Chocolate for the Poor
  4. (obsolete) Yet; but.
    • Hee said, I goe sir, and went not.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew XXII
  5. Used to connect certain numbers: connecting units when they precede tens (now dated); connecting shillings to pence in a monetary quantity (now historical); connecting tens and units to hundreds, thousands etc. (now often omitted in US); to connect fractions to wholes.
    • Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.1863 November 19, Abraham Lincoln, Dedicatory Remarks (Gettysburg Address)^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address_(Bliss_copy)), near Soldiers' National Cemetery, →LCCN, Bliss copy, page 1
    • In Chicago these latter were receiving, for the most part, eighteen and a half cents an hour, and the unions wished to make this the general wage for the next year.1905 April–October, Upton Sinclair, chapter XXVI, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 26 February 1906, →OCLC
  6. (colloquial, literary) Used to connect more than two elements together in a chain, sometimes to stress the number of elements.
    • And these does she apply, for warnings and portents, / And euils imminent; and on her knee / Hath begg'd, that I will stay at home to day.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • Lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh, my!1939, Langley, Ryerson & Woolf, The Wizard of Oz (screenplay)
  7. Connecting two identical elements, with implications of continued or infinite repetition.
    • I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms CXLV
    • He was at work in a nearby city when the tsunami struck. ‘As soon as I saw it, I called home. It rang and rang, but there was no answer.’2011 March 18, Jonathan Watts, The Guardian
  8. Introducing a parenthetical or explanatory clause.
    • The word "capable" occurs in Mr. Fisher's Bill, and rightly, because our mental and physical capacities are infinitely varied.1918, George W. E. Russell, Prime Ministers and Some Others
    • President Pervez Musharraf is undoubtedly sincere in his belief that he, and he alone, can save Pakistan from the twin perils of terrorism and anarchy.2008 January 29, The Guardian
  9. Introducing the continuation of narration from a previous understood point; also used alone as a question: ‘and so what?’.
    • And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps[…].1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation XIV
    • ‘You take it smoothly now,’ said I, ‘but you were very serious last night, when you swore it was Death.’ ‘And so I swear it is Death,’ said he, putting his pipe back in his mouth[…].1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC
  10. (colloquial, dialectal) Used to connect two verbs where the second is dependent on the first: ‘to’. Used especially after come, go and try.
    • Beyond paying her a few charming compliments and amusing her with gay conversation, had he done anything at all to try and gain her affection?1817 (date written), Jane Austen, edited by R[aymond] W[ilson] Chambers, Fragment of a Novel Written by Jane Austen, January–March 1817 […] [Sanditon], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, published...
    • "What have you a been and given Pitt's wife?" said the individual in ribbons, when Pitt and Lady Jane had taken leave of the old gentleman.1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC
  11. Introducing a qualitative difference between things having the same name; “as well as other”.
    • Undoubtedly every party makes mistakes. But there are mistakes and mistakes.1936, The Labour Monthly, volume XVIII
    • "There are managers and there are managers," he tells me. "I'm totally involved in every aspect of Nina's career."1972, Esquire, volume LXXVIII
  12. Used to combine numbers in addition; plus (with singular or plural verb).
    • Two and two is/are four.
    • ‘Nobody attempts to dispute that two and two make four: but with contests concerning moral truth, human passions are generally mixed[…].’1791, James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson
Show 3 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. (US, dialectal) If; provided that.
    • "Where ys Sir Launcelot?" seyde King Arthure. "And he were here, he wolde nat grucche to do batayle for you."1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book VII
    • Peter answered, and sayde: master, and thou be he, bidde me come unto the on the water.1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew
  2. (obsolete) As if, as though.
    • I will roare you, and 'twere any Nightingale.c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First...
    • As they will set an house on fire, and it were but to roast their eggs.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Innovations”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC
  3. Connecting two well-formed formulas to create a new well-formed formula that requires it to only be true when both of the two formulas are true.

Noun (1)

and (plural ands)

  1. (informal, often) In rhythm, the second half of a divided beat.
    • The same goes for measure 42, when you begin the phrase on the and of 1, because that kind of lick can easily bog down the time.2006, Gordon Goodwin, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band: Trumpet, page 51

Noun (2)

and (plural ands)

  1. (UK, dialectal) Breath.
  2. (UK, dialectal) Sea smoke; steam fog.

Verb (1)

and (third-person singular simple present ands, present participle anding, simple past and past participle anded)

  1. (UK, dialectal, intransitive) To breathe; whisper; devise; imagine.

Noun (3) capitalized: AND

AND (plural ANDs)

  1. (alternative) Alternative form of ∧, the conjunction operator.
  2. The binary operator and, only true if both of two inputs is true. In infix notation.
    • The proof (Tables 9 and 10) of idempotence for both OR and AND follows from examining the definition of each operation under the constraint that both inputs have the same value.2022 August 4, William Bahn, “Boolean Algebra Laws—Delving Into Boolean Identities”, in All About Circuits

Verb (2) capitalized: AND

AND (third-person singular simple present ANDs, present participle ANDing, simple past and past participle ANDed)

  1. (transitive) To combine (a value) with another value by means of this operator.
    • If an internal node is encountered that contains a mask, the search key is logically ANDed with the mask and another search is made of the subtree...2006, Gary R Wright, W Richard Stevens, The Implementation

Adjective capitalized: AND

AND (comparative more AND, superlative most AND)

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of airplane nose down.

and meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

and in Hindi

used to connect two similar words, phrases, et cetera
और aur, एवं evã, व va, तथा tathā, ओ o
used to string together sentences or sentence fragments in chronological order
तो to, ओ o, फिर phir, तथा tathā
used to show causation
और aur
used at the end of a list to indicate the last item
और aur, एवं evã, व va

and in Tamil

used to connect two similar words, phrases, et cetera
மற்றும் maṟṟum
used at the end of a list to indicate the last item
மற்றும் maṟṟum, கூட kūṭa

and in Marathi

used to connect two similar words, phrases, et cetera
आणि āṇi, व va

and in Urdu

used to connect two similar words, phrases, et cetera
اَور aur, و o
used at the end of a list to indicate the last item
اَور aur
More languagesFewer languages
and in Bengali
ও ō, এবং eboṅ, আর ar
and in Telugu
మరియు mariyu
and in Malayalam
ഉം uṁ, കൂടാതെ kūṭāte
and in Kannada
ಹಾಗೂ hāgū, ಮತ್ತು mattu
and in Punjabi
ਅਤੇ ate
and in Gujarati
અને ane
and in Odia
ଆଉ āu
and in Sanskrit
च ca
and in Sinhala
සහ saha
and in Assamese
আৰু aru
and in Nepali
र ra
and in Pashto
او aw, نو no
and in Tagalog
at, saka
and in Arabic
وَـ wa-, وَ wa
and in Malay
dan
and in Indonesian
dan
and in Thai
และ lɛ́, กับ gàp
and in Vietnamese
và, với
and in Myanmar
နဲ့ nai.
Sindhi
۽ aee’
Dhivehi
އަދި adi
Dzongkha
དང dang

Examples of and in a sentence

  • In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 1:1:
  • Smith, she had claims of various kinds to recommend her quickly and permanently.1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=III or...
  • ‘The UKBA has some serious explaining to do if it is routinely carrying out such abusive and unlawful inspections.’2011 November 5, Mark Townsend, The Guardian:
  • One more error and all the good work she had done on Friday would be for nought.2004 August 22, Will Buckley, The Observer:

All 40 example sentences with and

Synonyms of and

Antonyms

All synonyms of and

Forms of and

Conjunction
alternative forman'
alternative form'n'
alternative formn
Noun
pluralands
alternative formaynd
alternative formeynd
pluralANDs
Verb
third-person singular presentands
present participleanding
past participleanded
pastanded
alternative formeind
alternative formein
third-person singular presentANDs
present participleANDing
past participleANDed
pastANDed
Adjective
comparativemore AND
superlativemost AND

Origin of and

Inherited from Middle English and, an, from Old English and, ond, end, from Proto-West Germanic *andi, from Proto-Germanic *andi, *anþi, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti (“facing opposite, near, in front of, before”). Cognate with Scots an (“and”), North Frisian än (“and”), Saterland Frisian un (“and”), West Frisian en (“and”), Dutch en, ende (“and”), German und (“and”), German Low German on, un (“and”), Luxembourgish an (“and”), Vilamovian an, ana (“and”), Yiddish און (un), אונ (un), אונד (und), אונ׳ (un', “and”), Danish end (“still; ever; even”), Faroese enn (“still, yet”), Icelandic en (“and”), enn (“still, yet”), Norwegian Bokmål enn (“and”), Norwegian Nynorsk en, enn (“and”), Swedish än (“still, yet”), Albanian edhe (“and”) (dialectal ênde, ênne), ende (“still, yet, therefore”), Latin ante (“opposite, in front of”), Ancient Greek ἀντί (antí, “opposite, facing”). Doublet of an ("if").

Inherited from Middle English ande, from Old English anda (“grudge, enmity, malice, envy, hatred, anger, zeal, annoyance, vexation; zeal; injury, mischief; fear, horror”) and Old Norse andi (“breath, wind, spirit”); both from Proto-Germanic *anadô (“breath, anger, zeal”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁- (“to breathe, blow”). Cognate with German Ahnd, And (“woe, grief”), Danish ånde (“breath”), Swedish anda, ande (“spirit, breath, wind, ingenuity, intellect”), Icelandic andi (“spirit”), Albanian ëndë (“pleasure, delight”), Latin animus (“spirit, soul”). Related to onde.

Inherited from Middle English anden, from Old English andian (“to be envious or jealous, envy”) and Old Norse anda (“to breathe”); both from Proto-Germanic *anadōną (“to breathe, sputter”). Cognate with German ahnden (“to avenge, punish”), Danish ånde (“to breathe”), Swedish andas (“to breathe”), Icelandic anda (“to breathe”). See above.

Words formed from and

Phrases with and

186 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with and

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about and

What does and mean?
And means used simply to connect two noun phrases, adjectives or adverbs.
What is and in Hindi?
And in Hindi is और (aur), एवं (evã), व (va). See And meaning in Hindi.
How do you use and in a sentence?
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
What part of speech is and?
And can be a conjunction, a noun, a verb or an adjective.
How do you pronounce and?
And is pronounced /ˈænd/ (UK).

Words near and in the dictionary

  1. Ancyra
  2. ancyrocephalid
  3. ancyrocephalids
  4. ancyroid
  5. Ancón
  6. and
  7. and a half
  8. and a partridge in a pear tree
  9. and alike
  10. and all
  11. and all that

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: and (page history and authors); AND (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-and.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-and (stressed).wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-and (unstressed).wav.

Cite this entry: “and.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/and. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.