singular

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: sin=gu=lar

CIDE DICTIONARY

singular, a. [OE. singuler, F. singulier, fr. L. singularius, singularis, fr. singulus single. See Single, a.].

•  Separate or apart from others; single; distinct.  Bacon.  [1913 Webster]

  "And God forbid that all a company
  Should rue a singular man's folly."  [1913 Webster]
•  Engaged in by only one on a side; single.  [1913 Webster]

  "To try the matter thus together in a singular combat."  [1913 Webster]
•  Existing by itself; single; individual.  [1913 Webster]

  "The idea which represents one . . . determinate thing, is called a singular idea, whether simple, complex, or compound."  [1913 Webster]
•  Each; individual; as, to convey several parcels of land, all and singular.  [1913 Webster]
•  Denoting one person or thing; as, the singular number; -- opposed to dual and plural.  [1913 Webster]
•  Standing by itself; out of the ordinary course; unusual; uncommon; strange; as, a singular phenomenon.  [1913 Webster]

  "So singular a sadness
  Must have a cause as strange as the effect."  [1913 Webster]
•  Distinguished as existing in a very high degree; rarely equaled; eminent; extraordinary; exceptional; as, a man of singular gravity or attainments.  [1913 Webster]
•  Departing from general usage or expectations; odd; whimsical; -- often implying disapproval or censure.  [1913 Webster]

  "His zeal
  None seconded, as out of season judged,
  Or singular and rash."  [1913 Webster]

  "To be singular in anything that is wise and worthy, is not a disparagement, but a praise."  [1913 Webster]
•  Being alone; belonging to, or being, that of which there is but one; unique.  [1913 Webster]

  "These busts of the emperors and empresses are all very scarce, and some of them almost singular in their kind."  [1913 Webster]

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.

Syn. -- Unexampled; unprecedented; eminent; extraordinary; remarkable; uncommon; rare; unusual; peculiar; strange; odd; eccentric; fantastic.

singular, n. 

•  An individual instance; a particular.  Dr. H. More.  [1913 Webster]
•  The singular number, or the number denoting one person or thing; a word in the singular number.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

singular, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 unique; much beyond the average; extraordinary.
2 eccentric or strange.
3 Gram. (of a word or form) denoting or referring to a single person or thing.
4 Math. possessing unique properties.
5 single, individual.
--n. Gram.
1 a singular word or form.
2 the singular number.

Derivative

singularly adv.

Etymology

ME f. OF singuler f. L singularis (as SINGLE)

THESAURUS

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

ROGET THESAURUS

singular

Speciality

N speciality, specialite, individuality, individuity, particularity, peculiarity, idiocrasy, personality, characteristic, mannerism, idiosyncrasy, specificness, singularity, reading, version, lection, state, trait, distinctive feature, technicality, differentia, particulars, details, items, counts, minutiae, I, self, I myself, myself, himself, herself, itself, special, particular, individual, specific, proper, personal, original, private, respective, definite, determinate, especial, certain, esoteric, endemic, partial, party, peculiar, appropriate, several, characteristic, diagnostic, exclusive, singular, idiomatic, idiotypical, typical, this, that, yon, yonder, specially, especially, particularly, in particular, in propria persona, ad hominem, for my part, each, apiece, one by one, one at a time, severally, respectively, each to each, seriatim, in detail, in great detail, in excruciating detail, in mind-numbing detail, bit by bit, pro hac vice, pro re nata, namely, that is to say, for example, id est, exemplia gratia, e, g, i, e, videlicet, viz, to wit, le style est l'homme meme.

Unconformity

N unconformity, nonconformity, unconformity, disconformity, unconventionality, informality, abnormity, abnormality, anomaly, anomalousness, exception, peculiarity, infraction of law, breach, of law, violation of law, violation of custom, violation of usage, infringement of law, infringement of custom, infringement of usage, teratism, eccentricity, bizarrerie, oddity, je ne sais quoi, monster, monstrosity, rarity, freak, freak of Nature, weirdo, mutant, rouser, snorter, individuality, idiosyncrasy, originality, mannerism, aberration, irregularity, variety, singularity, exemption, salvo, nonconformist, nondescript, character, original, nonesuch, nonsuch, monster, prodigy, wonder, miracle, curiosity, flying fish, black sheep, black swan, lusus naturae, rara avis, queer fish, mongrel, random breed, half-caste, half-blood, half-breed, metis, crossbreed, hybrid, mule, hinny, mulatto, tertium quid, hermaphrodite, phoenix, chimera, hydra, sphinx, minotaur, griffin, griffon, centaur, saggittary, kraken, cockatrice, wyvern, roc, dragon, sea serpent, mermaid, merman, merfolk, unicorn, Cyclops, men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders, teratology, fish out of water, neither one thing nor another, neither fish nor fowl, neither fish flesh nor fowl nor good red herring, one in a million, one in a way, one in a thousand, outcast, outlaw, off the beaten track, oasis, uncomformable, exceptional, abnormal, abnormous, anomalous, anomalistic, out of order, out of place, out of keeping, out of tune, out of one's element, irregular, arbitrary, teratogenic, lawless, informal, aberrant, stray, wandering, wanton, peculiar, exclusive, unnatural, eccentric, egregious, out of the beaten track, off the beaten track, out of the common, out of the common run, beyond the pale of, out of the pale of, misplaced, funny, unusual, unaccustomed, uncustomary, unwonted, uncommon, rare, curious, odd, extraordinary, out of the ordinary, strange, monstrous, wonderful, unexpected, unaccountable, outre, out of the way, remarkable, noteworthy, queer, quaint, nondescript, none such, sui generis, unfashionable, fantastic, grotesque, bizarre, outlandish, exotic, tombe des nues, preternatural, denaturalized, heterogeneous, heteroclite, amorphous, mongrel, amphibious, epicene, half blood, hybrid, androgynous, androgynal, asymmetric, adelomorphous, bisexual, hermaphrodite, monoclinous, qualified, singular, unique, one-of-a-kind, newfangled, novel, non-classical, original, unconventional, unheard of, unfamiliar, undescribed, unprecedented, unparalleled, unexampled, unconformably, except, unless, save barring, beside, without, save and except, let alone, however, yet, but, once in a blue moon, once in a million years, Int, what on earth!, what in the world!, What the devil!, Holy cow!, Can you top that?, Sacre bleu, never was seen the like, never was heard the like, never was known the like, I could hardly believe it, I saw it, but I didn't believe it.

Unity

N unity, oneness, individuality, solitude, isolation, unification, one, unit, ace, individual, none else, no other, one, sole, single, solitary, unitary, individual, apart, alone, kithless, unaccompanied, unattended, solus, single-handed, singular, odd, unique, unrepeated, azygous, first and last, isolated, insular, monospermous, unific, uniflorous, unifoliate, unigenital, uniliteral, unijocular, unimodal, unimodular, lone, lonely, lonesome, desolate, dreary, insecable, inseverable, indiscerptible, compact, indivisible, atomic, irresolvable, singly, alone, by itself, per se, only, apart, in the singular number, in the abstract, one by one, one at a time, simply, one and a half, sesqui-, natura il fece, e poi roppe la stampa, du fort au faible, two souls with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one.