Bastard eigne, a bastard eldest son whose parents afterwards intermarry.
Eik"ing (?), n. (Naut.) See Eking.
||Ei"kon (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. e'ikw`n.] An image or effigy; -- used rather in an abstract sense, and rarely for a work of art.
Ei"ko*sane (?), n. [Gr. e'i`kosi.] (Chem.) A solid hydrocarbon, C20H42, of the paraffine series, of artificial production, and also probably occurring in petroleum.
Ei*kos"y*lene (?), n. [Gr. e'i`kosi twenty + acetylene.] (Chem.) A liquid hydrocarbon, C20H38, of the acetylene series, obtained from brown coal.
Eild (?), n. [See Eld.] Age. [Obs.] Fairfax.
Eire (?), n. Air. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Ei`re*narch (?), n. [See Irenarch.] (Gr. Antiq.) A justice of the peace; irenarch.
Ei*ren"ic (?), a. Pacific. See Irenic.
Ei"rie (?), n. See Aerie, and Eyrie.
Ei"sel (?), n. [OF. aisil, aissil, fr. L. acetum. Cf. Acetic.] Vinegar; verjuice. [Obs.] Sir T. More.
Eis*tedd"fod (s*t"vd), n. [W., session, fr. eistedd to sit.] An assembly or session of the Welsh bards; an annual congress of bards, minstrels and literati of Wales, -- being a patriotic revival of the old custom.
Ei"ther ("r or "r; 277), a. & pron. [OE. either, aither, AS. gðer, ghwæðer (akin to OHG. ogiwedar, MHG. iegeweder); + ge + hwæðer whether. See Each, and Whether, and cf. Or, conj.] 1. One of two; the one or the other; -- properly used of two things, but sometimes of a larger number, for any one.
Lepidus flatters both,
Of both is flattered; but he neither loves,
Nor either cares for him.
Shak.
Scarce a palm of ground could be gotten by either of the three.
Bacon.
There have been three talkers in Great British, either of whom would illustrate what I say about dogmatists.
Holmes.
2. Each of two; the one and the other; both; -- formerly, also, each of any number.
His flowing hair
In curls on either cheek played.
Milton.
On either side . . . was there the tree of life.
Rev. xxii. 2.
The extreme right and left of either army never engaged.
Jowett (Thucyd).
Ei"ther, conj. Either precedes two, or more, coördinate words or phrases, and is introductory to an alternative. It is correlative to or.
Either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth.