every

every
every early 13c., contraction of O.E. æfre ælc "each of a group," lit. "ever each" (Chaucer's everich), from EACH (Cf. each) with EVER (Cf. ever) added for emphasis, as the word is still felt to need emphasis (Mod.Eng. every last ..., every single ..., etc.). Cf. EVERYBODY (Cf. everybody), EVERYTHING (Cf. everything), etc. The word everywhen is attested from 1843 but never caught on; neither did everyhow (1837). Slang phrase every Tom, Dick, and Harry dates from at least 1734, from common English given names.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?
Synonyms:
(of several)


Look at other dictionaries:

  • every — 1. differences between each and every. Both words denote all the people or things in a group, and both normally govern a singular verb (for some exceptions see each). But each is a pronoun (as in I ll take three of each) as well as an adjective… …   Modern English usage

  • Every — Ev er*y, a. & a. pron. [OE. everich, everilk; AS. [=ae]fre ever + [ae]lc each. See {Ever}, {each}.] 1. All the parts which compose a whole collection or aggregate number, considered in their individuality, all taken separately one by one, out of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • every — ► DETERMINER 1) used to refer to all the individual members of a set without exception. 2) used to indicate something happening at specified intervals: every thirty minutes. 3) all possible; the utmost: every effort was made. ● every bit as Cf.… …   English terms dictionary

  • every — [ev′rē] adj. [ME everiche < OE æfre ælc, lit., ever each] 1. each, individually and separately; each, and including all [every man among you] 2. the fullest possible; all that there could be [given every chance to do the job] 3. each group or… …   English World dictionary

  • every — index collective Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • every — each, *all …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • every — [adj] each, all each one, whole, without exception; concept 531 Ant. none …   New thesaurus

  • every */*/*/ — UK [ˈevrɪ] / US determiner Summary: Every is generally used before a singular countable noun. The only exceptions are at Sense 2, where every can be used in phrases like every three hours , and at Sense 3. A noun subject that follows every is… …   English dictionary

  • every — ev|ery W1S1 [ˈevri] determiner [always followed by a singular C noun] [: Old English; Origin: Afre Alc ever each ] 1.) used to refer to all the people or things in a particular group or all the parts of something ▪ We looked carefully at every… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • every — [[t]e̱vri[/t]] ♦ 1) DET: DET sing n You use every to indicate that you are referring to all the members of a group or all the parts of something and not only some of them. Every village has a green, a church, a pub and a manor house... Record… …   English dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”