single

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsɪŋ.ɡᵊl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sengle, borrowed from Old French sengle (also single),^[2][3][4] from Latin singulus (“one, individual, separate”), mostly used in the plural singulī (“one by one”).^[2][3][5] Barnhart and Klein derive it from Proto-Indo-European *sem-go-lo-, built on *sem- (“one, together”).^[3][5][2] It is related to simple.^[6][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Without armour: probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder.^[3] Soon after it meant “unmarried”, about 1303 in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne,^[3] the first sense Etymonline gives (early 14th century).^[2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “consisting of one, individual” is from the late 14th century^[2][3] and was often merely emphatic.^[2] “Only one” is first recorded in Elyot's dictionary (1538),^[3] and “undivided” in the 1580s.^[2] The noun meant an unmarried person before 1376, in Piers Plowman,^[3] and one single thing from the 1640s.^[2][3] Sport gave it many senses: a one-run hit in cricket (1851) and a one-base hit in baseball (1858).^[2] It was a one-dollar bill by 1936, a record with one song on each side from 1949,^[2] an unattached young person from 1964, and singles bar is from 1969.^[2] The verb, first “to separate from the herd” in hunting, is from the 1570s,^[2][3] and single out “to pick from others” first appears in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost (1588).^[3] Single-handed is from 1709,^[3] and single-minded meant “sincere” in 1577 and “having one aim” from 1860.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1300 – without armour.^[3]
• c. 1303 – unmarried.^[3]
• before 1338 – singly.^[3]
• before 1376 – noun, an unmarried person.^[3]
• late 14th century – consisting of one.^[2][3]
• 1538 – only one (Elyot).^[3]
• 1570s – verb, to separate.^[2]
• 1709 – single-handed.^[3]
• 1858 – a one-base hit.^[2]
• 1949 – a record with one song a side.^[2]
• 1969 – singles bar.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Only one in number; individual and separate.
2. Not married.
3. Alone; unaccompanied.
4. Made for or involving one person: a single bed.
5. Not divided; whole.
6. Wholly attentive; honest, sincere.

Noun

1. An unmarried person.
2. A room or berth for one person.
3. A recording with one main song.
4. A one-base hit in baseball, or a hit for one run in cricket.
5. (US) A one-dollar bill.

Verb

1. To choose from among others; usually single out.
2. (baseball) To hit a single.

Word family

• singleness
• cassingle
• singles bar
• CD single

Related words

• singular
• singularity
• simple
• singleton
• same
• similar
• simultaneous

Usage notes

The AHD compares single, said of what is not combined or accompanied, with sole, the only one of its kind, unique, one with no equal, and solitary and lone, which stress being alone.^[7]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin