apiece
Americanadverb
adverb
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Instead of getting a glass of wine each and perhaps an appetizer to split, they now stick to water and an entree apiece to get out the door for under $70.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026
After a difficult childhood, the 39-year-old sculptor had started gaining momentum on the international art circuit with his intricately mirrored works, some of which have sold for as much as $1.5 million apiece.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 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
They won't have flawless records - there will be a draw apiece and results will dictate both teams ending up with the same goal difference of +46.
From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026
None of the first five applicants saved more than two goals apiece.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
