everyone

Everyone is an indefinite pronoun in English used to refer to all people in a group or to people in general. It denotes every individual within the mentioned set, without distinction. In most contexts, everyone is treated as singular and typically takes a singular verb: Everyone is here. The term is slightly more formal than its synonym everybody, which is more common in everyday speech.

The expression every one, written as two words, is used when referring to each member of a set or to count discrete items: There were ten cookies, and every one was eaten. When the reference is to people as a group, the single-word form everyone is the standard choice in contemporary usage. Older texts and certain fixed phrases may still appear with two words.

Usage notes and nuance: everyone can be replaced by everybody, depending on tone and formality. In formal writing, everyone is common in rights, policies, and general statements about the public or society. The word is closely related to other universal terms such as all, all people, and the public.

Origin and history: everyone originates from the combination of every and one, which gradually fused into a single pronoun in Modern English. This form is now ubiquitous in English usage.