individually

American  

[in-duh-vij-oo-uh-lee] / ˌɪn dəˈvɪdʒ u ə li /

adverb

1. one at a time; separately.

   The delegates were introduced individually.

2. personally.

   Each of us is individually responsible.

3. in an individual or personally unique manner.

   Her interpretation was individually conceived.

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Etymology

Origin of individually

First recorded in 1590–1600; individual + -ly

Explanation

Anything done individually happens one at a time, separate from others. In baseball, each player bats individually. An individual is a single person, or you can refer to an individual thing, which is one thing. Likewise, anything described as happening individually happens one by one or separately. An only child is raised individually. Doctors usually see patients individually, not in groups. If you're in a single-file line, you're lined up individually. Think of the number one when you see or hear the word individually.

Example Sentences

They were stored among the museum’s collection of more than eight million objects, millions of which had never been individually cataloged.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026

Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said the $20 billion is likely due to Nvidia selling its CPUs on a rack level instead of individually.

From MarketWatch • May 21, 2026

He committed to building like for like — each new house similar in size to the one it replaces — and to building them individually with high-quality materials and no ADUs.

From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026

The club will hope he can rebuild a side that fights collectively rather than individually, and to manage some of football's biggest personalities, several of whom have faced criticism this season for acting egotistically.

From BBC • May 12, 2026

Around dinnertime he opened his refrigerator and discovered there was nothing to eat but three individually wrapped slices of Kraft processed cheese.

From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen

Related Words

• alone
• independently
• personally