Unique Definition

unique

English

Etymology

From French unique.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːk

Adjective

unique (comparative more unique, superlative most unique)

1. (not comparable) Being the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched.
   • 1978, Jimmy Carter, Proclamation 4611:

     Admiralty Island contains unique resources of scientific interest which need protection to assure continued opportunities for study.

   • 2002, The American Practical Navigator:

     GPS assigns a unique C/A code and a unique P code to each satellite.

   • 1941, Allen v. Walt Disney:

     3. Both were written and published with the same unique chorus structure;

     4. Both compositions were written and published with the same unique harmonic structure;

   • 1920, Robert W. Lawson, Relativity: The Special and General Theory, translation of original by Albert Einstein:

     Perhaps the reader will wonder why we have placed our " beings " on a sphere rather than on another closed surface. But this choice has its justification in the fact that, of all closed surfaces, the sphere is unique in possessing the property that all points on it are equivalent.

2. Of a feature, such that only one holder has it.
3. (disputed) Of a rare quality.
4. (disputed) Unusual.

Synonyms

• one of a kind
• sui generis
• singular

Derived terms

• uniqueness

Related terms

• unicity
• one-of-a-kind

External links

• unique in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• unique in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• “unique” in Roget's Thesaurus, T. Y. Crowell Co., 1911.

French

Etymology

From Latin unicus.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• IPA: /y.nik/, SAMPA: /y.nik/

Adjective

unique (epicene, plural uniques)

1. unique
2. only

Related terms

• monnaie unique
• unicité
• uniquement

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