Singular

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Singular \Sin"gu*lar\, n.
     1. An individual instance; a particular. [Obs.] --Dr. H.
        More.
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     2. (Gram) The singular number, or the number denoting one


        person or thing; a word in the singular number.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Singular \Sin"gu*lar\ (s[i^][ng]"g[-u]*l[~e]r), a. [OE.
     singuler, F. singulier, fr. L. singularius, singularis, fr.
     singulus single. See {Single}, a.]
     1. Separate or apart from others; single; distinct. [Obs.]
        --Bacon.
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              And God forbid that all a company
              Should rue a singular man's folly.    --Chaucer.
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     2. Engaged in by only one on a side; single. [Obs.]
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              To try the matter thus together in a singular
              combat.                               --Holinshed.
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     3. (Logic) Existing by itself; single; individual.
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              The idea which represents one . . . determinate
              thing, is called a singular idea, whether simple,
              complex, or compound.                 --I. Watts.
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     4. (Law) Each; individual; as, to convey several parcels of
        land, all and singular.
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     5. (Gram.) Denoting one person or thing; as, the singular
        number; -- opposed to {dual} and {plural}.
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     6. Standing by itself; out of the ordinary course; unusual;
        uncommon; strange; as, a singular phenomenon.
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              So singular a sadness
              Must have a cause as strange as the effect.
                                                    --Denham.
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     7. Distinguished as existing in a very high degree; rarely
        equaled; eminent; extraordinary; exceptional; as, a man of
        singular gravity or attainments.
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     8. Departing from general usage or expectations; odd;
        whimsical; -- often implying disapproval or censure.
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              His zeal
              None seconded, as out of season judged,
              Or singular and rash.                 --Milton.
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              To be singular in anything that is wise and worthy,
              is not a disparagement, but a praise. --Tillotson.
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     9. Being alone; belonging to, or being, that of which there
        is but one; unique.
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              These busts of the emperors and empresses are all
              very scarce, and some of them almost singular in
              their kind.                           --Addison.
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     {Singular point in a curve} (Math.), a point at which the
        curve possesses some peculiar properties not possessed by
        other points of the curve, as a cusp point, or a multiple
        point.
  
     {Singular proposition} (Logic), a proposition having as its
        subject a singular term, or a common term limited to an
        individual by means of a singular sign. --Whately.
  
     {Singular succession} (Civil Law), division among individual
        successors, as distinguished from universal succession, by
        which an estate descended in intestacy to the heirs in
        mass.
  
     {Singular term} (Logic), a term which represents or stands
        for a single individual.
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     Syn: Unexampled; unprecedented; eminent; extraordinary;
          remarkable; uncommon; rare; unusual; peculiar; strange;
          odd; eccentric; fantastic.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  singular
       adj 1: unusual or striking; "a remarkable sight"; "such poise is
              singular in one so young" [syn: {remarkable}]
       2: beyond or deviating from the usual or expected; "a curious
          hybrid accent"; "her speech has a funny twang"; "they have
          some funny ideas about war"; "had an odd name"; "the
          peculiar aromatic odor of cloves"; "something definitely
          queer about this town"; "what a rum fellow"; "singular
          behavior" [syn: {curious}, {funny}, {odd}, {peculiar}, {queer},
           {rum}, {rummy}]
       3: being a single and separate person or thing; "can the
          singular person be understood apart from his culture?";
          "every fact in the world might be singular...unlike any
          other fact and sole of its kind"-William James
       4: grammatical number category referring to a single item or
          unit [ant: {plural}]
       5: the single one of its kind; "a singular example"; "the
          unique existing example of Donne's handwriting"; "a unique
          copy of an ancient manuscript"; "certain types of problems
          have unique solutions" [syn: {unique}]
       n : the form of a word that is used to denote a singleton [syn:
           {singular form}] [ant: {plural}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  154 Moby Thesaurus words for "singular":
     a certain, abnormal, absolute, absurd, alone, an, anomalous, any,
     any one, appropriate, atomic, atypical, azygous, bizarre, celibate,
     certain, characteristic, concrete, conspicuous, crank, crankish,
     cranky, crotchety, curious, defined, definite, detailed,
     determinate, deviant, deviative, different, discrete, distinct,
     distinctive, distinguished, divergent, dotty, dual, eccentric,
     either, eminent, erratic, esoteric, especial, exceptional,
     exclusive, express, extraordinary, fey, first and last, fixed,
     flaky, freaked out, freakish, freaky, funny, idiocratic,
     idiosyncratic, impair, important, in character, individual,
     indivisible, inner, integral, intimate, intrinsic, irreducible,
     irregular, isolated, kinky, kooky, lone, maggoty, marked, minute,
     monadic, monistic, notable, noteworthy, number, nutty, odd,
     oddball, off, off the wall, offbeat, one, one and only, only,
     only-begotten, out, outlandish, outre, outstanding, particular,
     passing strange, peculiar, personal, plural, precise, private,
     prominent, proper, quaint, queer, quintessential, quirky, rare,
     remarkable, respective, screwball, screwy, separate, several,
     signal, significant, simple, single, sole, solid, solipsistic,
     solitary, solo, special, specific, strange, superior, trial,
     true to form, twisted, unanalyzable, uncommon, unconventional,
     undivided, unearthly, unexampled, uniform, unimaginable, unique,
     unitary, unnatural, unordinary, unpaired, unrepeatable, unrepeated,
     unthinkable, unusual, unwonted, wacky, weird, whimsical, whole,
     wondrous strange
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  SINGULAR, construction. In grammar the singular is used to express only one, 
  not plural. Johnson. 
       2. In law, the singular frequently includes the plural. A bequest to 
  "my nearest relation," for example, will be considered as a bequest to all 
  the relations in the same degree, who are nearest to the testator. 1 Ves. 
  sen. 337; 1 Bro. C. C. 293. A bequest made to "my heir," by a person who had 
  three heirs, will be construed in the plural. 4 Russ. C. C. 384. 
       3. The same rule obtains in the civil law: In usu juris frequenter uti 
  nos singulari appellationie, am plura significari vellemus. Dig. 50, l6, 
  158.