apiece

American  

[uh-pees] / əˈpis /

adverb

1. for each piece, thing, or person; for each one; each.

   We ate an orange apiece. The cakes cost a dollar apiece.

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apiece British  

/ əˈpiːs /

adverb

1. (postpositive) for, to, or from each one

   they were given two apples apiece

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Etymology

Origin of apiece

First recorded in 1425–75, apiece is from late Middle English a pease. See a ², piece

Explanation

The adverb apiece means "for each" or "to each." If your grandmother gives you and your cousins ten dollars apiece, she hands each of you a ten dollar bill. When you sell cookies at a bake sale for a dollar apiece, every individual cookie costs one dollar. And if two competing baseball teams have eleven wins apiece, it means that they're tied for the season so far — they've each won eleven games. Apiece, first used in the 1500s, was a contraction of a pece, which was almost always used to talk about coins or items for sale.

Example Sentences

Spirit’s loyalty points were valued at about 1.1 cents apiece by the Points Guy travel site, but a bankruptcy court will ultimately determine if they’re actually worth anything.

From MarketWatch • May 4, 2026

Ackman raised $5 billion in the deal, selling 100 million shares at $50 apiece in the first major U.S. closed-end fund in several years.

From Barron's • Apr. 29, 2026

X-Energy priced its shares at $23 apiece Thursday and expects to raise over $1 billion in its planned debut Friday.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

Bass raked in money from others parts of Hollywood, collecting $1,800 apiece from the political action committee representing the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and the Motion Picture Assn.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026

He had only fifty poorly armed men with a ration of twenty cartridges apiece.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Related Words

• aside
• individually
• respectively
• separately