unique

== English == === Etymology === Borrowed from French unique. Piecewise doublet of any. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /juːˈniːk/, (weak vowel merger) /jəˈ-/ (Indic) IPA(key): /jʊˈnik/, /ˈjunik/, (spelling pronunciation) /-nɪk/ Rhymes: -iːk === Adjective === unique (comparative uniquer or more unique, superlative uniquest or most unique) (not comparable) Being the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched. Synonyms: one of a kind, sui generis, singular, one-off Of a feature, such that only one holder has it. Particular, characteristic. (often proscribed) Rare or unusual. ==== Usage notes ==== The comparative and superlative forms uniquer or more unique and uniquest or most unique, as well as the use of unique with modifiers as in fairly unique and very unique, are criticised with the reasoning that either something is unique or it is not. These modified senses of “unique”, however, have been in use since at least as far back as the 18th century, with “unique” taking its common secondary sense of “uncommon, unusual, remarkable”. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== unicity one-of-a-kind inimitable ==== Translations ==== === Noun === unique (plural uniques) A thing without a like; something unequalled or unparallelled; one of a kind. ==== Translations ==== === Further reading === “unique”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “unique”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. “unique” in Roget's Thesaurus, T. Y. Crowell Co., 1911. == French == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin ūnicus. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /y.nik/ Rhymes: -ik === Adjective === unique (plural uniques) unique only ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== un ==== Descendants ==== → Danish: unik → Dutch: uniek→ Indonesian: unik → English: unique → Norwegian Bokmål: unik → Norwegian Nynorsk: unik → Swedish: unik → Turkish: ünik === Further reading === “unique”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012