everybody

The word 'everybody' is a transparent compound formed within Middle English from the fusion of two common Old English words. 'Every', itself a compound of 'ever' and 'each', signifies totality and individual inclusion. 'Body', in its original sense referring to a physical form, developed a metaphorical extension to mean 'a person' and further, when used as a suffix, 'a collective of persons'. Thus, the literal construction 'each body' evolved logically into the modern indefinite pronoun meaning 'each person' and, by extension, 'all people collectively'. This semantic shift from the concrete ('physical body') to the abstract ('personhood') and then to the collective is a common pattern in English word formation.

Structure: every + body - every: From Old English ǣfre ǣlc (ever each). A compound word meaning 'each individual of a group'. - body: From Old English bodig, meaning 'physical structure of a person or animal'. Here, it functions as a collective suffix meaning 'group of persons'.