ev'ry

See also: evry

English

Etymology

Every used to be a trisyllabic word, and it was therefore at times necessary to replace the second e with an apostrophe to pronounce the word as two syllables for poetic reasons.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɛvɹi/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɛvɹi/
• Rhymes: -ɛvɹi

Determiner

ev'ry

1. (poetic) Every.
   • 1895, Katharine Lee Bates, "America the Beautiful", first published as "Pikes Peak", The Congregationalis, July 4th, 1895):

     America! America! God mend thine ev’ry flaw; Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law!

   • 1943, Cole Porter, “There Must Be Someone for Me”, in The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter, published 1992, page 345:

     There’s a boy snail for ev’ry girl snail, There’s a boy quail for ev’ry girl quail/ There’s a boy mouse for ev’ry girl mouse, There’s a boy grouse for ev’ry girl grouse

   • 1963, John Lennon, "It Won't Be Long", in Alan Aldridge, The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics (1991) p. 185

     Ev’ry night when ev’rybody has fun, here am I sitting all on my own.

Anagrams

• very