ieder

Ieder is a Dutch determiner and pronoun meaning “each” or “every.” It is used before singular nouns to refer to the individuals within a group, or as a distributive pronoun to indicate something applies to all members separately. It is etymologically related to the German jeder and the English every, sharing a common Proto-Germanic origin.

Usage notes:

As a determiner, ieder precedes a singular noun to express a universal or distributive sense, as inIedere dag (every day) or Iedere persoon (every person). As a pronoun, it can stand for “each one” within a group, for example Ieder van de leerlingen heeft een taak (Each of the students has a task). In many contexts where the sense is broad rather than strictly literal, the sentence may use elke or alle, but ieder often carries a slightly more formal or emphatic nuance.

Nuance and alternatives:

Ieder is commonly contrasted with elke and alle. Elke is widely used in everyday speech and sometimes feels less formal than ieder; alle means “all” as a group without distribution. In fixed expressions, such as in ieder geval, ieder serves a conventional function meaning “in any case.” The word Iedereen (everyone) is the broad pronoun form derived from ieder.

See also:

Iedereen, elke, elk, alle.