each
/iːtʃ
/determiner & pronoun
Used to refer to every one of two or more people or things, regarded and identified separately: [as determiner]: each battery is in a separate compartment each one of us was asked what went on [as pronoun]: Derek had money from each of his five uncles they each have their own personality...
- Fawcett's team won the last three ends but managed only a single shot on each of them.
- He has a growing collection of plastic dinosaurs and he can pretty much name each one.
- It is so heavy that it can only be pulled at a walk by eight horses, each of which has to give full effort.
Synonyms
every one, each one, each and every one, one and all, all, the whole lot
adverb
To, for, or by every one of a group (used after a noun or an amount): the cameras cost £35 each Paul and Bill have a glass each...
- Four seminars were held in July, one each for trustees, presidents, deans, and school heads.
- The glasses only cost $0.85 each, but the minimum order is for 25 pairs.
- Cinema-goers paid 20p each to become the inaugural customers at the 10-screen multiplex.
Synonyms
apiece, per person, per capita, to each, for each, from each, individually, respectively
formal severally
Phrases
each and every
Origin
Old English ǣlc; related to Dutch elk and German jeglich, based on a West Germanic phrase meaning 'ever alike' (see aye2, alike).
every from Old English:
An Old English word that is related to ever and each. Every occurs in two well-known proverbs. Every little helps has a rather rude origin. It appears to be from a 1590 work by the French writer Meurier, which translates as ‘Every little helps, said the ant, pissing into the sea.’ In the first English example, ten years later, the ant is replaced by a wren. Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost alludes to a chase by the Devil, in which the slowest will be caught.