Etymologically
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respective

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɹɪˈspɛktɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin respectivus (“having regard for”),[2][3][4] perhaps through Middle French respectif,[2][5] from respectus, the past participle of respicere (“to look back at, have regard for”) (see respect).[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to, relative: about 1454 in Barnhart, the mid-15th century in Etymonline; this sense is now obsolete.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries it meant attentive or considerate (1525), and respectful or courteous (1579), a sense very common from 1600 to 1650.[6] The modern sense, relating to each of several separately, is from the 1640s.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1454 – relative (obsolete).[2]
  • 1525 – attentive, careful.[6]
  • 1579 – respectful (obsolete).[6]
  • 1640s – belonging to each separately.[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Belonging or relating to each of two or more people or things separately: they returned to their respective homes.

Word family

  • respectiveness
  • respectively
  • irrespective
  • respect
  • respectful
  • respectable
  • spectacle

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press