English
each
Each comes from Old English ǣlċ ‘each, every’, a contraction of ǣġhwelċ ‘each, every’.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ǣġhwelċ‘each, every’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150ǣlċ‘each, every’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ech
- Englishearliest quotation 1999each
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ǣġhwelċ‘each, every’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150ǣlċ‘each, every’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ech
- Englishearliest quotation 1999each
Earliest quotation: 1999, William S. Paasche, Thomas D. Kerker: “In one embodiment, there is an additional charge when…”
Equivalent to ā + which
Proto-Indo-European *kʷ- ‘interrogative root’
…
Proto-Germanic *hwaz ‘who, what’
Proto-Germanic *hwilīkaz ‘what kind of’
Old English hwelċ ‘which’
Middle English which
English which
Every English word from Old English ǣġhwelċ
Today it means
det All; every; qualifying a singular noun, indicating all examples of the thing so named seen as individual or separate items (compare every).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English ǣġhwelċ / each