individual English · revision 3249

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1425|origins=la dīvidere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌɪn.dɪˈvɪdʒ.u.əl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|indyvyduall|t=indivisible, single]],^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|la-med|indīviduālis|t=indivisible, individual]], perhaps through Middle French,^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[la|indīviduus|t=indivisible, inseparable]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|in-|t=not]] and [[m|la|dīviduus|t=divisible]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) from [[m|la|dīvidere|t=to divide]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) It is related to [[divide]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “One and indivisible”, with reference to the Trinity: about 1425,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) the early 15th century.^(Etymonline) Etymonline notes that the word was not common before about 1600 and that the 15th-century example may be an outlier.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The original sense “indivisible” and the sense “inseparable” (about 1600) are obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) “Pertaining to a single person or thing” is from 1605, in Bacon's ''Advancement of Learning'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and “single, separate” from the 1610s (1613).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) “Marked by its own peculiar character, distinctive” is from 1646.^(OED 1989) The noun meant a single thing from about 1600 (1605),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and a single human being as opposed to a group from the 1640s^(Etymonline) or 1626.^(Barnhart 1988) The colloquial sense “a person” is attested from 1742.^(Etymonline) “Intended for one person”, as in ''individual portions'', is from 1889.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Individualism'' is from 1827, partly through the translation of de Tocqueville's ''Democracy in America''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1425 – indivisible.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1605 – peculiar to one person; noun, a single thing.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1613 – single, separate.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1626 – noun, a single person.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1742 – noun, a person (colloquial).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1827 – ''individualism''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1889 – intended for one person.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Single; separate.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Of, for or done by one person: ''individual portions''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # [[distinctive|alt=Distinctive]]; having its own character.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A single human being, as distinct from a group or society.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A person, especially one of a particular kind.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(biology)'' A single animal or plant, as distinct from a species or group.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[individually]]

+ * [[nonindividual]]

+ * [[superindividual]]

+ * [[transindividual]]

+ * [[individualism]]

+ * [[individualise]]

+ * [[individuality]]

+ * [[individualize]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[divide]]

+ * [[dividual]]

+ * [[division]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary finds the noun unexceptionable when it sets a person against a larger group or marks them out by some special quality, but notes that since the 19th century critics have objected to its use simply for “a person”, where ''person'' would do;^(AHD) the Century Dictionary called that use incorrect.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}