Unities

1 definition found

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

  Unity \U"ni*ty\, n.; pl. {Unities}. [OE. unite, F. unit['e], L.
     unitas, from unus one. See {One}, and cf. {Unit}.]
     1. The state of being one; oneness.
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              Whatever we can consider as one thing suggests to


              the understanding the idea of unity.  --Locks.
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     Note: Unity is affirmed of a simple substance or indivisible
           monad, or of several particles or parts so intimately
           and closely united as to constitute a separate body or
           thing. See the Synonyms under {Union}.
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     2. Concord; harmony; conjunction; agreement; uniformity; as,
        a unity of proofs; unity of doctrine.
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              Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren
              to dwell together in unity!           --Ps. cxxxiii.
                                                    1.
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     3. (Math.) Any definite quantity, or aggregate of quantities
        or magnitudes taken as one, or for which 1 is made to
        stand in calculation; thus, in a table of natural sines,
        the radius of the circle is regarded as unity.
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     Note: The number 1, when it is not applied to any particular
           thing, is generally called unity.
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     4. (Poetry & Rhet.) In dramatic composition, one of the
        principles by which a uniform tenor of story and propriety
        of representation are preserved; conformity in a
        composition to these; in oratory, discourse, etc., the due
        subordination and reference of every part to the
        development of the leading idea or the eastablishment of
        the main proposition.
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     Note: In the Greek drama, the three unities required were
           those of action, of time, and of place; that is, that
           there should be but one main plot; that the time
           supposed should not exceed twenty-four hours; and that
           the place of the action before the spectators should be
           one and the same throughout the piece.
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     5. (Fine Arts & Mus.) Such a combination of parts as to
        constitute a whole, or a kind of symmetry of style and
        character.
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     6. (Law) The peculiar characteristics of an estate held by
        several in joint tenancy.
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     Note: The properties of it are derived from its unity, which
           is fourfold; unity of interest, unity of title, unity
           of time, and unity of possession; in other words, joint
           tenants have one and the same interest, accruing by one
           and the same conveyance, commencing at the same time,
           and held by one and the same undivided possession.
           Unity of possession is also a joint possession of two
           rights in the same thing by several titles, as when a
           man, having a lease of land, afterward buys the fee
           simple, or, having an easement in the land of another,
           buys the servient estate.
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     {At unity}, at one.
  
     {Unity of type}. (Biol.) See under {Type}.
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     Syn: Union; oneness; junction; concord; harmony. See {Union}.
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