• each, every;
  • each one individually;

Etymology

Ideogrammatic compound:

夂 (뒤져올 치) — represents a foot or movement, derived from a flipped form of 止 ("to stop");

口 (입 구) — represents a location or direction.

Originally, the character depicted a person walking toward a place — implying “to arrive” or “to go.”

Over time, this original meaning faded, and 各 came to mean “each,” “respective,” or “individual.” Emphasizing separateness or distribution one by one.

Usage in Korean

The older meanings related to "going" or "arriving" were eventually absorbed by other characters such as:

格 (격식 격) – standard, pattern;

略 (대략 략) – strategy, outline.

Survives in modern expressions across Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese, including:

각자 (各自) – each person;

각국 (各國) – each country;

各位 – each person (formal address);

各方面 – various aspects/sides.

각각
gakgak
gak
Kangxi radical:30, + 3
Strokes:6
Unicode:U+5404
Cangjie input:
  • 竹水口 (HER)
Composition:
  • ⿱ 夂 口

Characters next to each other in the list

References