singular
UK/ˈsɪŋ.ɡjʊ.lə//ˈsɪŋ.ɡjə.lɚ/
singular adjective: being only one of a larger population; single, individual.
Adjective
singular (comparative more singular, superlative most singular)
- Being only one of a larger population; single, individual.
- A singular experiment cannot be regarded as scientific proof of the existence of a phenomenon.
- And God forbid that all a company / Should rue a singular manne's folly.1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; Charles Cowden Clarke, editor, The Canterbury Tales of...
- Synonyms:
- individual, concrete, discrete, particular, peculiar, proper, specific
- Antonyms:
- general, catholic, common, ecumenical, generic, nonsingular, nonspecific, universal, unparticular, unsingular
- Being the only one of the kind; unique.
- She has a singular personality.
- The busts[…] of the emperors and empresses are all very scarce, and some of them almost singular in their kind.1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- unique, alone, azygous, incomparable, matchless, nonpareil, only, peerless, sui generis, unequaled
- Distinguished by superiority: peerless, unmatched, eminent, exceptional, extraordinary.
- a man of singular gravity or attainments
- Synonyms:
- exceptional, extraordinary, remarkable
- Out of the ordinary; curious.
- It was very singular; I don't know why he did it.
- So ſingular a ſadneſs / Muſt have a cauſe as ſtrange as the effect: […]1641 (first performance), [John Denham], The Sophy. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman, […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, page 11
- Referring to only one thing or person.
- Antonyms:
- plural
- Having no inverse.
- Synonyms:
- non-invertible
- Antonyms:
- invertible, non-singular
- Having the property that the matrix of coefficients of the new variables has a determinant equal to zero.
- Not equal to its own cofinality.
- Each; individual.
- to convey several parcels of land, all and singular
- Cel[adon]. […] Hovv do Meliſſa’s tvvo fair Daughters? / Aſt[eria]. VVhen you tell me vvhich of ’em you are in love vvith, I’le anſvver you. / Cel. VVhich of ’em, naughty ſiſter, vvhat a question’s there? VVith both of ’em, vvith each and singular of ’em.1667 March 12 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), John Dryden, Secret-Love, or The Maiden-Queen: […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], published 1668, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1
- Engaged in by only one on a side; single.
- Thus made he an end, and the two princes allowed well of his last motion, and so order was taken, that they should fight togither in a singular combat1577, Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, →OCLC
Noun
singular (plural singulars)
- A form of a word that refers to only one person or thing.
- Antonyms:
- plural
- That which is not general; a specific determinate instance.
- A group of boars.
- He rode as it were mechanically forward with his late counsellors, Diego and Gonsalez, at his side; and though, when "a singular of boars" was hunted out from his covert by the fierce Alauntes, the king followed up the chase, and even threw a spear at the bristled animal, yet it was with little...1884, Anna Eliza Bray, The Talba, or Moor of Portugal, volume 3, page 238
- The harts and hinds in their herds, the boars in their singulars, the skulls of foxes, the richesses of martens, the bevies of roes, the cetes of badgers and the routs of wolves - all came to him more or less as something which you either skinned or flayed and then took home to cook.1958, T.H. White, The Once and Future King
singular meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
singular in Hindi
- grammar: form of a word that refers to only one thing
- एकवचन ekavcan
singular in Tamil
- being only one of larger population
- தனி taṉi, ஒற்றை oṟṟai
- being the only one of a kind
- தனித்துவமான taṉittuvamāṉa
- distinguished by superiority
- மேம்பட்ட mēmpaṭṭa, ஒப்பற்ற oppaṟṟa, நிகரற்ற nikaraṟṟa
- being out of the ordinary
- தனித்துவமான taṉittuvamāṉa
singular in Marathi
- एकवचनी, एकवचन
singular in Urdu
- انوکھا, غیرمعمولی, نادر, تنہا, واحد, یگانہ
More languagesFewer languages
- singular in Bengali
- একবচন, অনন্য, অসাধারণ
- singular in Telugu
- ఏకవచనము ēkavacanamu
- singular in Malayalam
- ഒറ്റയായ, മുന്നിട്ടുനിൽക്കുന്ന, വിചിത്രമായ, അപൂർവ്വമായ
- singular in Kannada
- ಏಕ ēka
- singular in Punjabi
- ਇੱਕਵਚਨ, ਇਕਵਚਨ
- singular in Gujarati
- એકવચન
- singular in Odia
- ଏକବଚନ ekabacana
- singular in Nepali
- एकवचन
- singular in Tagalog
- isahan
- singular in Arabic
- مُفْرَد mufrad, صِيغَة اَلْمُفْرَد ṣīḡat al-mufrad
- singular in Indonesian
- tunggal
- singular in Persian
- مفرد mofrad
- singular in Thai
- เอกพจน์ èek-gà-pót, เอกฐาน
- singular in Vietnamese
- số ít
- singular in Myanmar
- ဧကဝုစ်ကိန်း eka.wuckin:
Examples of singular in a sentence
- These birds are the most singular of any in the archipelago.1839, Charles Darwin, Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty’s Ships Adventure and Beagle, between the Years 1826 and 1836, […]...
- His zeal / None seconded, as out of season judged, / Or singular and rash.1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert...
Synonyms of singular
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
- general
- catholic
- common
- ecumenical
- generic
- nonsingular
- nonspecific
- universal
- unparticular
- unsingular
4 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of singular
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more singular |
| superlative | most singular |
| alternative abbreviation | sing. |
| alternative abbreviation | sg. |
| alternative abbreviation | sg |
| Noun | |
| plural | singulars |
Origin of singular
From Middle English singuler, from Old French, from Latin singulāris (“alone of its kind”), from Latin singulus (“single”).
Words formed from singular
- cosingular
- equisingular
- first-person singular
- hypersingular
- nonsingular
- second-person singular
- singular existential statement
- singularise
- singularism
- singularist
- singularity
- singularization
- singularize
- singularly
- singular matrix
- singularness
- singular statement
- singular term
- singular value decomposition
- supersingular
- third-person singular
- unsingular
- singulare tantum
Phrases with singular
Questions about singular
- What does singular mean?
- Singular means being only one of a larger population; single, individual.
- What is singular in Hindi?
- Singular in Hindi is एकवचन (ekavcan). See Singular meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use singular in a sentence?
- These birds are the most singular of any in the archipelago.
- What part of speech is singular?
- Singular can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce singular?
- Singular is pronounced /ˈsɪŋ.ɡjə.lɚ/ (US).
Words near singular in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: singular (page history and authors); singular (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); singular (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); singular (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); singular (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ಏಕ (Kannada) (page history and authors); singular (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); singular (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ଏକବଚନ (Odia) (page history and authors); singular (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-singular.ogg.
Cite this entry: “singular.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/singular. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.