English
every
Every comes from Middle English every, everich, from Old English ǣfre ǣlċ ‘each and every’ (literally ‘ever each’).
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ǣfre ǣlċ‘each and every’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500every‘every, each’
- Englishearliest quotation 1892same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ǣfre ǣlċ‘each and every’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500every‘every, each’
- Englishearliest quotation 1892same form
Earliest quotation: 1892, Walter Besant, New York: “At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour…”
Every English word from Old English ǣfre ǣlċ
Today it means
det All of a countable group (considered individually), without exception.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English ǣfre ǣlċ / every