Between and Among :



The “-tween” in “between” is clearly linked to the number two; but, as the Oxford English Dictionary notes, “In all senses, between has, from its earliest appearance, been extended to more than two.”


We’re talking about Anglo-Saxon here—early. Pedants have labored to enforce “among” when there are three or more objects under discussion, but largely in vain.


Even the pickiest speaker does not naturally say, “A treaty has been negotiated among England, France, and Germany.”