respectively

UK/ɹɪˈspɛktɪvli/US/ɹɪˈspɛktɪvli/

adverbC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,045 of 15,258mostly writtenformal · an editor’s judgement

Respectively means each in the order already given. Two lists, matched up one to one.

It sits at the end of the sentence and it only works when both sequences are in the same order, so saying that Ali and Sam came first and second respectively is clear and reversing either list breaks it. It is formal and appears constantly in reports and captions. The word is worth keeping apart from respectfully, which means with respect and is a completely different thing.

Definitions of respectively

1adverbrespectivelyIn the order already mentioned.C1
“The two rooms sleep four and two respectively.”

Where it comes from

Latin
respectus
Medieval Latin
respectivus
English
respective
English, today
respectively

From respective + -ly. respective Borrowed from Medieval Latin respectivus, from Latin respectus. by surface analysis, en + respect + ive.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 24 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

respectively in the wild

A set with an upper (respectively, lower) bound is said to be bounded from above or majorized (respectively bounded from below or minorized) by that bound.
Upper and lower bounds
The terms bounded above (bounded below) are also used in the mathematical literature for sets that have upper (respectively lower) bounds.
Upper and lower bounds
Thus, for example, fats and ethanol have the greatest amount of food energy per unit mass, 37 and 29 kJ/g (9 and 7 kcal/g), respectively.
Food energy
Polyols (including sugar alcohols) and organic acids contribute 10 kJ/g (2.4 kcal/g) and 13 kJ/g (3.1 kcal/g) respectively.
Food energy
Plus and minus are Latin terms meaning 'more' and 'less', respectively.
Plus and minus signs

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the respectus family

respect

respectively — used about once every 11,558 pages · #12,045 · point at the bar for the others

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