respectively

adverb

re·​spec·​tive·​ly ri-ˈspek-tiv-lē 

1

: in the order given

My cousin and I were respectively 12 and 16 years old.

2

: in particular : separately

could not recognize the solutions as salty or sour, respectively

Examples of respectively in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Resilience has now flown four of those; the capsule also conducted Crew-1, SpaceX first operational astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA, as well as Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn, the company's first and most recent private crew launches to Earth orbit, respectively. —Robert Z. Pearlman, Space.com, 13 Jan. 2026

Abarca and Smith will replace Chairperson DaRon McGee and Vice Chair Donna Peyton, respectively. —Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 13 Jan. 2026

Lidl beat out Aldi and Walmart by 44 cents and 60 cents, respectively. —Charlotte Observer, 13 Jan. 2026

Karastoyanova headed the zooarchaeological analysis and credited her colleagues Veselin Danov, Petya Petrova and Viktoria Ruseva with documenting, interpreting and analyzing the skeleton, respectively. —Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 12 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1602, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for respectively

• ineffectively
• retrospectively
• affectively
• collectively
• defectively
• effectively
• objectively
• prospectively
• protectively
• reflectively
• selectively
• subjectively

Kids Definition

respectively

adverb

re·​spec·​tive·​ly

ri-ˈspek-tiv-lē

: each in the order given

John and Mary were 12 and 13 years old respectively