singular
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- sg. (abbreviation)
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English singuler, borrowed from Old French, from Latin singulāris (“alone of its kind”), from Latin singulus (“single”).
PronunciationEdit
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɪŋɡjəlɚ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɪŋɡjʊlə/
Audio (US) (file)
AdjectiveEdit
singular (comparative more singular, superlative most singular)
- Being only one of a larger population.
- A singular experiment cannot be regarded as scientific proof of the existence of a phenomenon.
- Synonym: individual
- Antonym: general
- Being the only one of the kind; unique.
- She has a singular personality.
- 1705 (revised 1718), Joseph Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy
- The busts […] of the emperors and empresses are all very scarce, and some of them almost singular in their kind.
- 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], OCLC 230972125; Charles Cowden Clarke, editor, The Canterbury Tales of Chaucer. […] , volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), 2nd edition, Edinburgh: James Nichol; London: James Nisbet & Co.; Dublin: W. Robertson, 1860, OCLC 752865638:
- And God forbid that all a company / Should rue a singular manne's folly.
- 1620, Francis Bacon, Novum Organum
- singular instances
- Synonym: unique
- Distinguished by superiority: peerless, unmatched, eminent, exceptional, extraordinary.
- a man of singular gravity or attainments
- Synonyms: exceptional, extraordinary, remarkable
- Out of the ordinary; curious.
- It was very singular; I don't know why he did it.
- 1641, John Denham, The Sophy
- So singular a sadness / Must have a cause as strange as the effect.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book 5”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- His zeal / None seconded, as out of season judged, / Or singular and rash.
- (grammar) Referring to only one thing or person.
- Antonym: plural
- (linear algebra, of matrix) Having no inverse.
- Synonym: non-invertible
- Antonyms: invertible, non-singular
- (linear algebra, of transformation) Having the property that the matrix of coefficients of the new variables has a determinant equal to zero.
- (set theory, of a cardinal number) Not equal to its own cofinality.
- (law) Each; individual.
- to convey several parcels of land, all and singular
- (obsolete) Engaged in by only one on a side; single.
- 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, “[(please specify the book title).]”, in The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, OCLC 55195564:
- Thus made he an end, and the two princes allowed well of his last motion, and so order was taken, that they should fight togither in a singular combat
SynonymsEdit
- (being only one): see also Thesaurus:specific
- (being the only one of a kind): see also Thesaurus:unique
- (being out of the ordinary): see also Thesaurus:strange
AntonymsEdit
- (being only one): see also Thesaurus:generic
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
being only one of larger population
being the only one of a kind
distinguished by superiority
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being out of the ordinary
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grammar: referring to only one thing
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linear algebra: of matrix: having no inverse
linear algebra: of transformation
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
NounEdit
singular (plural singulars)
- (grammar) A form of a word that refers to only one person or thing.
- Antonym: plural
- (logic) That which is not general; a specific determinate instance.
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
grammar: form of a word that refers to only one thing
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See alsoEdit
- (grammatical numbers) grammatical number; singular, dual, trial, quadral, paucal, plural (Category: en:Grammar)
Further readingEdit
- singular in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- singular in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- singular at OneLook Dictionary Search
AnagramsEdit
CatalanEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin singulāris. Doublet of senglar.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
singular (masculine and feminine plural singulars)
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
GalicianEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin singulāris.
AdjectiveEdit
singular m or f (plural singulares)
PortugueseEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin singulāris. Doublet of senheiro.
AdjectiveEdit
singular m or f (plural singulares, comparable)
- singular (being the only one of a kind)
- Synonym: único
- (grammar) singular (referring to only one thing)
- Antonym: plural
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
NounEdit
singular m (plural singulares)
Serbo-CroatianEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin singulāris.
NounEdit
sȉngulār m (Cyrillic spelling си̏нгула̄р)
DeclensionEdit
Declension of singular
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | singular | singulari |
| genitive | singulara | singulara |
| dative | singularu | singularima |
| accusative | singular | singulare |
| vocative | singulare | singulari |
| locative | singularu | singularima |
| instrumental | singularom | singularma |
SpanishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin singulāris. Doublet of señero.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
singular (plural singulares)
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
NounEdit
singular m (plural singulares)
Further readingEdit
- “singular” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.