each

• (England) aich, (England, obsolete) aitch, (obsolete) eache, (obsolete) eatch, (obsolete) eatche, (obsolete) ech, (obsolete) eche, (obsolete) eich, (England, obsolete) etch, (England, obsolete) eych, (England, obsolete) eyche, (England, obsolete) yeach

From Middle English eche, from Old English ǣlċ, contraction of ǣġhwelċ, from Proto-West Germanic *aiwgahwalīk (“each, every”). Compare Scots ilk, elk (“each, every”), Saterland Frisian älk (“each”), West Frisian elk, elts (“each”), Dutch elk (“each”), Low German elk, ellik (“each”), German Low German elk, elke (“each, every”), German jeglicher (“any”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /iːt͡ʃ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /it͡ʃ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːtʃ

each

1. All; every; qualifying a singular noun, indicating all examples of the thing so named seen as individual or separate items (compare every).

   Make sure you wash each bowl well.

   The sun comes up each morning and sets each night.

   • 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:

     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.

• (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.

each (not comparable)

1. For one; apiece; per.

   The apples cost 50 cents each.

2. Individually; separately; used in a sentence with a plural subject to indicate that the action or state described by the verb applies to all members of the described group individually, rather than collectively to the entire group.

   We ordered half a chicken each, but we each got a whole one.

   You are each right in a different way.

   There are three of us and we have five dollars each, so that means we've got 15 dollars.

each

1. Every one/thing individually or one by one.

   I'm going to give each of you a chance to win.

   From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

each (plural eaches)

1. (operations, philosophy) An individual item: the least quantitative unit in a grouping.
   • 1999, William S. Paasche, Thomas D. Kerker, System and method for managing recurring orders in a computer network, US Patent 7359871 (PDF version), page 50:

     In one embodiment, there is an additional charge when ordering products as an “each” compared to the unit cost of the item when ordered by the case.

   • 2007, David E. Mulcahy, Eaches or Pieces Order Fulfillment, Design, and Operations Handbook (Series on resource management), Auerbach Publications, →ISBN, page 385:

     An each, piece, single item, or individual item package.

   • 2012, Arthur V. Hill, “unit of measure”, in edited by Barry Render, The Encyclopedia of Operations Management, FT Press, →ISBN, page 373:

     The commonly used term “each” means that each individual item is one unit.

   • 2008, Frederick Neuhouser, Rousseau's theodicy of self-love, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 238:

     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'

• Thesaurus:quantifier

• “each, adj. and pron.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2022.

• HACE, Ache, Aceh, AChE, Chea, hace, ache, Chae

PIE word
*h₁éḱwos

From Old Irish ech,^[1] from Proto-Celtic *ekʷos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éḱwos (“horse”).

• IPA^(key): /ax/^[2][3]

each m (genitive singular eich, nominative plural eacha)

1. (archaic) horse

• capall

• eachmairt
• eachra
• giolla eich (“horse-boy”)

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “eaċ”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 272
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “each”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

PIE word
*h₁éḱwos

From Old Irish ech,^[1] from Primitive Irish *ᚓᚊᚐᚄ (*eqas), from Proto-Celtic *ekʷos. Cognates include Irish each and Manx agh.

• IPA^(key): /ɛx/, [ɛəx]
• (Barra) IPA^(key): [æx]^[2]
• Hyphenation: each

each m (genitive singular eich, plural eich)

1. horse (Equus caballus)

   tha an t-each na throtan ― the horse is trotting

   air muin eich ― on horseback

   Cò air a tha sibh a' bruidhinn? – Tha sinn a' bruidhinn air eich!

   Who/what are you talking about? – None of your business!

   (literally, “We are talking about horses”)

2. (dated) brute (coarse person)

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “each”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎^[1], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Colin Mark (2003) “each”, in The Gaelic-English dictionary, London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 253

From Old Frisian āge, from Proto-Germanic *augô, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (“eye; to see”).

• IPA^(key): /ɪə̯x/

each n (plural eagen, diminutive eachje)

1. eye

• “each (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011