See Also: singular(dictionary)
singular 1, adjective(dictionary)
singular 2, noun(dictionary)
SINGULAR, construction(law)

singular (iou)



singular adjective, noun, & adverb. ME.
[Old French singuler (mod. -ier) from Latin singularis, from singulus SINGLE adjective.]
A. adjective.
I.
Orig. spec. in early biblical translations, (of an animal) living and feeding alone. Later, alone; apart from others; solitary. Long rare or obsolete. ME.
Separate, individual, single. Now only in all and singular, every one of. arch. ME.
Of or pertaining to an individual; personal, private. Also, peculiar to a person or group; special. rare. ME-E18.
One only; particular, specific; exclusive, sole; unique. LME.
a. Grammar. Of the form or class of a noun, verb, etc.: denoting no more than one. Opp. PLURAL adjective 1. LME.
K. Amis The treatment of media as a singular noun..is spreading.
b. Logic. Of a proposition etc.: applicable only to a single object. M16.
c. Math. Having some generally or locally unique property; (of a point) that is a singularity; (of a solution of a differential equation) that cannot be obtained directly from the general solution, esp. that represents the envelope of all the curves represented by the general solution. M19.
a. Of a person: holding no office or special position; private. LME-L16.
b. Scots Law. singular successor, a person who acquires heritable property by a single title, esp. a purchase, rather than inheritance. M17.
II.
Above or beyond the average; especially good or great; excellent, rare. Formerly also spec., (of medicine) particularly beneficial (freq. foll. by against, for). ME.
Defoe To our singular satisfaction we found the water..ran..eastward. G. Gordon The singular advantage that..no-one in the restaurant could observe you.
b. Of a person: eminent, distinguished. L15-L17.
Superior to all others; pre-eminent. LME-M17.
Remarkable or extraordinary in some respect; not conforming to the general or the norm; strange, eccentric, peculiar. Also foll. by in. LME.
G. Greene It would indeed be singular if the religious sense were absent. A. Cross I thought I'd heard that singular name Umphelby before.
Special collocations: singular combat = single combat s.v. COMBAT noun 1. singular successor: see sense 6b above.
b. noun.
Grammar. The singular number; a singular word or form. Opp. PLURAL noun 1. LME.
N. Podhoretz I refer to them from now on in the singular..as The Boss.
A single person; an individual; a single thing, esp. a single point or detail. Now rare. LME.
= SANGLIER. rare. L15-L17.
C. adverb. Singularly. Now non-standard. M16.
singularly adverb ME.
singularness noun (now rare) = SINGULARITY 1 M16.