Each

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /iːt͡ʃ/
• US IPA: /it͡ʃ/
• Rhymes: -iːtʃ

Origin

From Middle English eche, from Old English ǣlċ, contraction of ǣġhwylċ ("each, every, any, all"), from Proto-Germanic *aiwô ("ever, always") + *galīkaz ("alike"), equivalent to ay + like. Compare Scots ilk, elk ("each, every"), West Frisian elk ("each"), Low German elk, ellik ("each"), Dutch elk ("each"), German jeglich ("any").

Full definition of each

Determiner

1. All; every; qualifying a singular noun, indicating all examples of the thing so named seen as individual or separate items (compare every).
• 2013-07-19, Ian Sample, Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains, Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.
2. make sure you wash each bowl well;  the sun comes up each morning and sets each night
3. Every one; every thing.
   I'm going to give each of you a chance to win.
4. For one; per.
   The apples cost 50 cents each.

Usage notes

(all, every) The phrase beginning with each identifies a set of items wherein the words following each identify the individual elements by their shared characteristics. The phrase is grammatically singular in number, so if the phrase is the subject of a sentence, its verb is conjugated into a third-person singular form. Similarly, any pronouns that refer to the noun phrase are singular:

Each candidate has 49 votes.

Each voter must decide for herself.

Related terms

• each and every
• each other
• to each his own

Noun

1. (operations, philosophy) An individual item: the least quantitative unit in a grouping.
• 2007, David E. Mulcahy, Eaches or Pieces Order Fulfillment, Design, and Operations Handbook, CRC Press, ISBN 978-0-8493-3522-8, page 385:An each, piece, single item, or individual item package.
• 2008, Frederick Neuhouser, Rousseau's theodicy of self-love, Amour-propre would be able to take an interest in assuming the standpoint of reason, then, if applying 'each' to oneself in rational deliberation were simultaneously bound up with publicly establishing oneself as an 'each'

Anagrams

• Aceh, ache, Ache, HACE