Share and share alike

Mete out or partake of something equally, as in Mom told the children to share and share alike with their Halloween candy. This term, first recorded about 1566, alluded to the equal apportioning of spoils and soon was broadened to include equal sharing in the costs of a venture and other undertakings or possessions to mean, those engaged in any joint enterprise should divide the profits (or losses) fairly.

The proverb was first known as ‘share and share like’, as in this quote from Richard Edwards’s comedy Damon and Pithias, 1566:

“Let vs into the Courte to parte the spoyle, share and share like.”

Daniel De Foe, appears to be the first to have used the ‘share and share alike’ version. That was is Robinson Crusoe, or as he called it The life and strange adventures of Robinson Crusoe, 1719:

“He declar’d he had reserv’d nothing from the Men, and went Share and Share alike with them in every Bit they eat.”