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unit

Etymology and origin of the English word unit

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1570, John Dee

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈjuː.nɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is an alteration of unity,[2][3] or a back-formation from it,[4] on the pattern of digit;[2][3][5][6] Hoad and the SOED form it from Latin ūnus (“one”).[5][7] It was popularized by John Dee's English translation of Euclid (1570), to render Greek monás;[2][3] Dee wrote that unity had formerly been used in this sense.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A single number regarded as an undivided whole, the base of all numbers: 1570, in John Dee's preface to Euclid,[3][8] or the 1560s.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word was formerly also spelled unite.[3] A single person or thing regarded as a member of a group is from the 1640s, first recorded in 1642.[2][3][8] A quantity adopted as a standard of measurement is from 1738.[3][2][8] In the late 19th century the word took on new technical senses: a unit of account (1882), a kilowatt-hour of electricity (1891), a course credit in education (1894), and a group of wards in a hospital (1893).[8][2] The adjective, “being or measuring one unit”, is from 1839.[9]

Timeline

  • 1570 – a single number, the base of all numbers.[3][8]
  • 1642 – a single member of a group.[3][8]
  • 1738 – a standard of measurement.[3][8]
  • 1839 – adjective.[9]
  • 1891 – a kilowatt-hour.[8]
  • 1893 – a hospital unit.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A single thing, person or group regarded as a distinct part of a whole.
  2. A fixed quantity adopted as a standard of measurement.
  3. A group with a particular function within a larger organization, as in the armed forces or a hospital.
  4. A piece of equipment or a module with a specific function: a kitchen unit.
  5. (mathematics) The number one; the least whole number.
  6. A section of a course of study.

Adjective

  1. Being or relating to one unit.

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
Cite this entry

“Unit.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/unit. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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