respective
Americanadjective
adjective
-
belonging or relating separately to each of several people or things; several
we took our respective ways home
-
an archaic word for respectful
Other Word Forms
- respectiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of respective
First recorded in 1515–25; from Medieval Latin respectīvus, equivalent to Latin respect(us) ( respect ( def. ) ) + -īvus -ive ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Figuring out who and how you love takes trial and error, two things Andie and Blane both endure while trying to fit into each other’s respective worlds.
From Salon
“You have two gold medalist teams just hanging out before we’re going back to our respective cities. And it was just great to hear their experience.”
From Los Angeles Times
He said talks would resume after “consultation in the respective capitals,” with the two sides holding “technical level” discussions next week in Vienna.
From MarketWatch
"A lot of people think of dinosaurs as sort of the mammal equivalents in the Mesozoic era, since they're both the dominant terrestrial animals of their respective time periods," Holtz said.
From Science Daily
Albusaidi offered no details on those negotiations, but said in his post that talks would resume after “consultation in the respective capitals.”
From MarketWatch
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
