Origin: Latin suffix -ive
Respective has 2 different meanings across 1 category:
considered individually
"the respective club members"
"specialists in their several fields"
"the various reports all agreed"
Relating to particular persons or things, each to each; particular; own.
"The students returned their respective textbooks after the exam was over."
In plain English: Respective means that each person or thing gets their own specific part or place.
"The two friends went to their respective houses after the party."
Usage: Use "respective" when listing two or more people or groups and referring back to them individually in the correct order, such as saying they returned home respectively after their separate trips. Avoid using it for a single person's individual attribute unless contrasting multiple distinct items within that same sentence structure.
The word entered English from Medieval Latin respectivus, which itself came from the Latin respectus. While it appears to be a combination of "respect" and "-ive," its roots lie in this older borrowed form rather than being formed directly within English.