EACH OTHER Definition & Meaning

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each other

pronoun

each the other; one another (used as a compound reciprocal pronoun):
to strike at each other; to hold each other's hands; to love each other.

each other

pronoun

used when the action, attribution, etc, is reciprocal
furious with each other

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Usage Note

Although some insist that each other be used only in reference to two ( The two candidates respected each other ) and one another in reference to three or more ( The three nations threaten one another ), in standard practice they are interchangeable. Each other is not restricted to two, nor is one another restricted to three or more. The possessive of each other is each other's; the possessive of one another is one another's.

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Usage

Each other and one another are interchangeable in modern British usage

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of each other¹

before 1000; Middle English; Old English. See each, other

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, one another . Each one the other, one the other, as in The boys like each other , or The birds were fighting one another over the crumbs . Both of these phrases indicate a reciprocal relationship or action between the subjects preceding ( the boys, the birds ). Formerly, many authorities held that each other should be confined to a relationship between two subjects only and one another used when there are more than two. Today most do not subscribe to this distinction, which was never strictly observed anyway. [Late 1300s] Also see at each other's throats .

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Compare Meanings

How does each other compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

They’re an odd couple feeling each other out for a way back into life.

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It’s also my favorite, with the duo challenging Too Short to a rap battle in which both sides take hilarious verbal aim at each other’s genitals.

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Most concerning is that the world's two greatest economies are now at each other's throats with no indication that either is preparing to backdown.

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“Some of you believed me, some of you nodded, smiled and secretly texted each other, ‘We’ve heard this before.’

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Nico and him know each other so well - they just trust each other.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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