unique French · revision 15980

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1480, Mistère du Viel Testament|origins=la ūnus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /y.nik/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''unique''' (plural uniques)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Unicque'' (1530), ''unic'' (1536), ''uniq'' (1607).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|ūnicus|t=only, sole; matchless]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|14, 43a) from [[la|ūnus|t=one]] (see [[un]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ [[en|unique]] (about 1600) is from French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Mistère du Viel Testament'' (about 1480) has ''Les trois sans fin joincts en vouloir unique'', of the three persons of the Trinity united in one will: “which is one, forms a unity”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In 1495 it meant “alone of its kind”, and in 1579 “only, as opposed to several”, as in ''l'unique fils d'Hector'' (Garnier) and ''fils unique'' (1512–1573).^(TLFi)^(BHVF) From 1540 it had the qualitative sense “unequalled”: in ''Amadis'', Oriane was called ''Unique'' for having no equal in beauty.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Lesage (1732) uses it for what is fundamentally different from others, and Diderot (1758) has the familiar ''c'est unique !'' “that's extraordinary”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Modern phrases include ''sens unique'' (1914), ''voie unique'', ''parti unique'' and ''salaire unique''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) ''Uniquement'' dates from 1458 and ''unicité'' from 1740.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1458 – ''Uniquement''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1480 – ''Unique'' in the ''Mistère du Viel Testament''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1512 – ''Filz unique''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1540 – “Unequalled”, in ''Amadis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1600 – English ''unique''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1758 – ''C'est unique !'' in Diderot.^(TLFi)

+ * 1914 – ''Sens unique''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Only, sole, single: ''fils unique'', ''son unique souci'', ''seul et unique''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Single, the same for all: ''prix unique'', ''monnaie unique'', ''à sens unique'': one-way.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|unique|alt=Unique]], unequalled: ''un talent unique''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(familiar)'' Extraordinary, priceless: ''il est unique !''.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[unicité]]

+ * [[uniquement]]

+ * [[uniquement]]

+ * [[unicité]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[un]]

+ * [[union]]

+ * [[la|ūnicus]]

+ * [[en|unique]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}