ENGLISH
REFERENCE

respective

adj.
C1 Advanced Oxford US //ɹiˈspɛktɪv// UK //ɹɪspˈɛktɪv// re·spec·tive Archaic

adj. belonging to each person or thing in a group when you look at them separately. You use it to show that different items belong to different people in the same order they were mentioned.

adj. relating or belonging to each of the individual people or things previously mentioned, considered separately. Typically used to clarify a one-to-one correspondence between two sets of items.


SIMPLE

The guests returned to their respective rooms after dinner.

CONTEXTUAL

After the joint meeting, the two CEOs returned to their respective headquarters to brief their boards.

COMPLEX

The successful applicants were notified of their respective start dates and assigned to their individual mentors based on their specific technical backgrounds.

Synonyms
Origin

Borrowed from Medieval Latin respectivus, from Latin respectus. By surface analysis, respect + -ive.

Usage

Always used before a noun; it cannot be used as a predicative adjective after a verb like 'to be'.

Pitfall

They went to their respective room.They went to their respective rooms.Respective must be followed by a plural noun because it refers to multiple distinct items belonging to different individuals.

© 2026 English Reference