each other

pronoun

1. 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

1. used when the action, attribution, etc, is reciprocal

   furious with each other

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.

Usage

Each other and one another are interchangeable in modern British usage

Word History and Origins

Origin of each other¹

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

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 .

Example Sentences

Masks were not part of the attire, or conversation, but we gave each other plenty of space.

From Washington Post

According to Azevedo’s appeal, each other candidate had a decade less experience in government.

From ProPublica

So they run into each other years later and it’s kind of the feeling of you left me hanging.

From Essence.com

Over time, we watch as he learns the various ways in which human beings can do each other harm.

From Washington Post

Connie and I will text throughout the day and send each other photos of our food as it comes out of the oven.

From Washington Post

We would talk off and on, just checking-up-on-each-other kind of thing.

From The Daily Beast

We clung to each other-was it to pass the time, or was it in despair?

From Project Gutenberg

Such is the case with our own language: each-other, one-another.

From Project Gutenberg

The same enthusiasm for art, the same studies and the same inclinations bound us yet closer to each-other.

From Project Gutenberg

The walls consist of unhewn beams laid upon each-other, the crevices being filled up with moss.

From Project Gutenberg

They reached the hall, where Siegfried and Gutrune stood to welcome them, and the men hailed each other-388- as brother.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• one