singularity

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English singularite, also singulerite,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French singulerte (“peculiarity”), modern French singularité,^[4][3][5] and directly borrowed from Late Latin singulāritās (“a being alone”),^[4][5][6] from Latin singulāris (“single, solitary; peculiar, remarkable”),^[4][5][7] from singulus (“one, individual, separate”),^[4] the source of single.^[4] The Anglo-Norman form singulerté, recorded from the late 13th century, meant individuality and self-centredness.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Unusual or exceptional behaviour, and also solitary living: about 1230, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[2][4] The OED's first record is from before 1340, in Richard Rolle's Psalter, for singleness of aim or purpose.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

Middle English used the word for solitude, for odd behaviour or teaching, and for excellence in thought or deed;^[2] Chaucer used it of an individual part.^[5][9] Several early senses, singleness of aim, solitariness, private gain and special excellence, died out by the 17th century,^[5] and a singularity in the sense of a single thing or unit lasted until the early 18th century.^[5][6] The sense of differing from others, especially in opinion or religion, is recorded from 1502,^[5][4] and the word came to mean chiefly a remarkable or peculiar quality.^[6] Johnson (1755) defined it as a quality that distinguishes someone from others.^[10] In the late 19th century mathematicians used it for a point at which a function takes an infinite value (1893),^[4][6] and in astrophysics, from 1965, it is a point where the density of matter or the curvature of space-time becomes infinite, as in a black hole.^[4][6][11] In technology, the Singularity is a hypothetical point at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1230 – solitude; unusual or exceptional behaviour.^[2][4]
• before 1340 – singleness of aim or purpose (obsolete by 1640).^[5][4]
• c. 1374 – a single or separate thing; a unit (obsolete by 1708), in Chaucer's Boethius.^[5]
• 1398 – solitariness (obsolete by 1607).^[5][2]
• 1502 – differing or dissenting from others, especially in religion.^[5] Etymonline dates the sense to about 1500.^[4]
• 1583 – the quality of being one in number or kind.^[5]
• 1893 – in mathematics, a point at which a function takes an infinite value.^[4][6]
• 1965 – in astrophysics, a point of infinite density.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality of being singular; strangeness or eccentricity: the singularity of his manners.^[11][6]
2. A trait or feature that sets a person or thing apart; a peculiarity.^[11][6][7]
3. (mathematics) A point at which a function is not differentiable or takes an infinite value, though it is differentiable around it.^[11][6]
4. (astronomy) A point in space-time where matter is infinitely dense, as at the centre of a black hole.^[11][6][4]
5. the Singularity: a hypothetical future point at which technological growth runs beyond human control.^[1]
6. (obsolete, 1374–1708) A single or separate thing; a unit.^[5][6]

Word family

• nonsingularity

Related words

• single
• singular
• singleton

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins