unicus Latin · revision 4214

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=la ūnus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈuː.nɪ.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈuː.ni.kus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ūnicus''' (feminine ūnica, neuter ūnicum, adverb ūnicē); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|unus|-icus|t1=one]], as in [[bellicus]] and [[publicus|alt=pūblicus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) [[m|la|ūnus]] continues [[itc-pro|*oinos]], from [[ine-pro|*h₁óynos|t=one]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus uses it of a person's only son, ''tuus unicus gnatus'', and of having only one garment.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first sense is one and only, sole, as of an only son or daughter in Terence and Cicero, or the only hope in Livy.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Lucretius joins it with ''sōlus'', “one and alone”.^(Georges 1913) From Afranius on it also meant having no match, singular, outstanding, as Cicero's unique example of old-time honesty.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In medieval British Latin it was also used as a noun for an only child or son.^(DMLBS) Köbler records a medieval noun for an unmarried man.^(Köbler 2010) English ''unique'' came from French around 1600 as “single, solitary”, and as “the only one of its kind” from the 1610s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of an only son.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 2nd half of the 2nd century BC – Afranius uses it of a unique talent.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a unique example.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # One and only, sole, single.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Having no match, singular, [[m|en|unique]]; outstanding.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, as noun)'' An only child, only son.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ūnicitās]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[unus|alt=ūnus]]

+ * [[en|unique]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}