singleton

Etymology

It is formed from English single + -ton,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} on the model of simpleton;^[4][6][7][2] the OED takes the ending from surnames that end in -ton.^[2] Weekley and Barnhart see a jocular use of the surname Singleton with the adjective in mind,^[8][9] and the American Heritage Dictionary derives it from the name, influenced by the adjective.^[10] Merriam-Webster Unabridged instead takes it from French, formed from the English adjective and the French diminutive suffix -eton;^[11] Barnhart notes that French had borrowed the word from English by 1767, over a century before its first English record.^[9] The adjective goes back through Old French sengle to Latin singulus (“one, individual, separate”).^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In whist, the only card of a suit in a hand: 1876, in A. Campbell-Walker's card glossary.^[2] Etymonline also dates the word, and the sense of a hand holding only one card of a suit, to 1876.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From the card table the word spread, as Etymonline puts it, in the early 20th century to other cases of a single thing.^[5] The OED records a single thing as distinct from a pair from 1892,^[2][9] a single entry in a competition from 1898, a child born singly rather than as a twin from 1931, and a person who is alone, such as an only child or an unmarried person, from 1937; spies also used it for an agent working alone.^[2] Merriam-Webster also has it for a single offspring of an animal.^[11] In mathematics it has meant a set with only one member since 1966.^[2] The sense of an unmarried person is found in American English in 1961, and Green's Dictionary of Slang credits its popularity to Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary (1996).^[12]

Timeline

• 1876 – in whist, the only card of a suit in a hand.^[2][5][11]
• 1892 – a single thing, as distinct from a pair.^[2][9]
• 1898 – a single entry in a competition.^[2]
• 1931 – a child born singly rather than as one of twins.^[2]
• 1937 – a person on their own, such as an only child or an unmarried person.^[2]
• 1961 – an unmarried person, in American English.^[12]
• 1966 – in mathematics, a set with only one member.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. In bridge and whist, a card that is the only one of its suit in a player's hand, or a holding of only one card in a suit: She led her singleton diamond, hoping to trump the next round.^[7][11][2]
2. A single person or thing, as distinct from a pair or a group.^[7][11][2]
3. A single offspring, born alone rather than as a twin.^[11][2]
4. A person who is not married or in a relationship.^[7][12][2]
5. In mathematics, a set with exactly one member.^[7][2]

Related words

• single
• simpleton
• doubleton

Usage notes

An unrelated singleton, a coverlet of cloth of gold used when a Knight of the Bath was created, is recorded once, in 1656; the OED takes it from a variant of the Old French word that gave ciclatoun.^[2] In 18th- and 19th-century slang a singleton was a corkscrew, which Grose (1785) explained by a Dublin corkscrew maker of that name.^[12]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com