unique English · revision 3499

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1602|origins=la ūnus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /juːˈniːk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|unique]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986) and in early use directly [[der|la|ūnicus|t=only, single, sole, alone of its kind]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[m|la|ūnus|t=one]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*oi-no-|t=one, unique]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[one]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Single, sole, solitary: 1602 in Barnhart and the OED,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and 1601 in Merriam-Webster.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “Forming the only one of its kind, having no like or equal” is from 1618,^(OED 1989) the 1610s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) In the sense “unrivalled, unparalleled” it was borrowed again from French in the late 18th century and was treated as a foreign word, usually in italics, until the mid-19th century.^(Barnhart 1988) The weakened sense “remarkable, uncommon” is from the mid-19th century,^(Etymonline) and critics call it an error.^(Etymonline)^(AHD) The noun, a thing of which only one example exists, is from 1714.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1602 – single, sole.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1618 – having no like or equal.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1714 – noun, a unique specimen.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+ * late 18th century – reborrowed from French as “unparalleled”.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-19th century – remarkable, unusual.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Being the only one of its kind.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Without an equal; [[unparalleled]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Belonging only to a particular person, place or thing: ''a problem unique to cities''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' Unusual; remarkable.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[uniquely]]

+ * [[uniqueness]]

+ * [[biunique]]

+ * [[nonunique]]

+ * [[ununique]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[inimitable]]

+ * [[one]]

+ * [[union]]

+ * [[unit]]

+ * [[unity]]

+ * [[unicorn]]

+ * [[uniform]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Unique'' has become the standard example of an adjective that is said not to allow comparison: most grammarians reject ''very unique'' or ''more unique'', though ''nearly unique'' and ''almost unique'' are accepted.^(AHD) In one American Heritage survey, 80 percent of the Usage Panel rejected ''quite unique'' in a sentence about fashion.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}