between

between (bĭ-twēnʹ) preposition

In an intermediate space, position, or time; in the interim.

idiom.

betweenʹness noun

Usage Note: According to a widely repeated but unjustified tradition, "between is used for two, and among for more than two." It is true that between is the only choice when exactly two entities are specified: the choice between (not among) good and evil, the rivalry between (not among) Great Britain and France. When more than two entities are involved, however, or when the number of entities is unspecified, the choice of one or the other word depends on the intended sense. Between is used when the entities are considered as distinct individuals; among, when they are considered as a mass or collectivity. Thus in the sentence The bomb landed between the houses, the houses are seen as points that define the boundaries of the area of impact (so that we presume that none of the individual houses was hit). In The bomb landed among the houses, the area of impact is considered to be the general location of the houses, taken together (in which case it is left open whether any houses were hit). By the same token, we may speak of a series of wars between the Greek cities, which suggests that each city was an independent belligerent, or of a series of wars among the Greek cities, which allows as well the possibility that the belligerents were shifting alliances of cities. For this reason, among is most appropriate to indicate inclusion in a group: She is among the best of our young sculptors. There is a spy among you (this last is arguably appropriate even when there are only two addressees; certainly between would be impossible). Between is the preferred choice when the entities are seen as determining the limits or endpoints of a range: The plane went down somewhere between Quito, Lima, and La Paz. The truck driver had obviously been drinking between stops.