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• unit
  unit

  noun

  a single thing or person.
• Unit.
  Unit.

  abbreviation

  Unitarian.

unit

¹ American  

[yoo-nit] / ˈju nɪt /

noun

• units
  plural

1. a single thing or person.

2. any group of things or persons regarded as an entity.

   They formed a cohesive unit.

3. one of the individuals or groups that together constitute a whole; one of the parts or elements into which a whole may be divided or analyzed.

4. one of a number of things, organizations, etc., identical or equivalent in function or form.

   a rental unit;

   a unit of rolling stock.

5. any magnitude regarded as an independent whole; a single, indivisible entity.

6. Also called dimension.  any specified amount of a quantity, as of length, volume, force, momentum, or time, by comparison with which any other quantity of the same kind is measured or estimated.

7. the least positive integer; one.

8. Also called unit's place. 

   1. (in a mixed number) the position of the first digit to the left of the decimal point.

   2. (in a whole number) the position of the first digit from the right of the decimal point.

9. a machine, part, or system of machines having a specified purpose; apparatus.

   a heating unit.

10. Education. a division of instruction centering on a single theme.

11. Military. an organized body of soldiers, varying in size and constituting a subdivision of a larger body.

12. Medicine/Medical.

    1. the measured amount of a substance necessary to cause a certain effect; a clinical quantity used when a substance cannot be readily isolated in pure form and its activity determined directly.

    2. the amount necessary to cause a specific effect upon a specific animal or upon animal tissues.

13. Mathematics.

    1. an identity element.

    2. an element in a group, ring, etc., that possesses an inverse.

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Unit. ² American  

abbreviation

1. Unitarian.

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unit ¹ British  

/ ˈjuːnɪt /

noun

1. a single undivided entity or whole

2. any group or individual, esp when regarded as a basic element of a larger whole

3. a mechanical part or integrated assembly of parts that performs a subsidiary function

   a filter unit

4. a complete system, apparatus, or establishment that performs a specific function

   a production unit

5. a subdivision of a larger military formation

6. Also called: unit of measurement.  A standard amount of a physical quantity, such as length, mass, energy, etc, specified multiples of which are used to express magnitudes of that physical quantity

   the second is a unit of time

7. the amount of a drug, vaccine, etc, needed to produce a particular effect

8. a standard measure used in calculating alcohol intake and its effect

9. maths

   1. (usually plural) the first position in a place-value counting system, representing a single-digit number

      in the decimal system the number 27 has 7 units and 2 tens

   2. (modifier) having a value defined as one for the system

      unit vector

10. Also called: unit set.  maths logic a set having a single member

11. short for home unit

12. short for stock unit

13. a self-propelled railcar

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Unit. ² British  

abbreviation

1. Unitarian

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subunit
  noun
• superunit
  noun
• interunit
  adjective
• multiunit
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• units
  plural

Etymology

Origin of unit

Coined in 1570 by John Dee ( def. ) as a translation of Greek mónas (previously rendered as unity ); perhaps influenced by digit

Explanation

A unit is a single, whole part of something, like a building block. In math class, you might do a unit on algebra before you do another unit on geometry. Also, there are units of measurement, such as inches and miles. The word unit started out in math but has branched out to refer to any singular thing that is part of something larger. Each apartment in a building is a unit. A unit can also be a small group that fits into a larger social organization, like a military unit or a family unit. In all cases, a unit is a small, whole part of something bigger.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

unit Unit. units

Kim Nash is an editor who manages a team of reporters covering cybersecurity and data-privacy issues for The Wall Street Journal's Pro unit in New York.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said it sent 10 fire engines, a command support unit, technical rescue teams and other resources to the scene.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Last week, Google announced a dramatic management shake-up at DeepMind, its AI research unit, that saw Hassabis step down as CEO to be replaced by his deputy, Koray Kavukcuoglu.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

The civil protection unit said 77 people were rescued, and there were fears that other passengers may be unaccounted for.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

Two centuries later, his "cells" turned out to be the fundamental unit of all life.

From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman

"White is being booked into the Fulton County Jail right now. This case is being investigated by @ATLFireRescue Arson Unit. @FGTV @FultonInfo."

From Fox News ● Jun. 23, 2020

“Yeah. Unit. God, I’m so excited to be going to a real party.”

From "Feed" by M.T. Anderson

In a nearby truck, dozens of brand new air conditioning units still in their boxes were waiting to be installed.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

During the exercise, Ukrainian drone units easily spotted and took down U.S. troops and armored vehicles on rotation from Fort Hood in Texas, according to people familiar with the events.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

He said he could not promise to build 3 million new housing units, as Newsom did eight years ago as a candidate for governor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Google’s tensor processing units have been a major selling point for the company’s AI strategy.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

He talked about majors, semesters, units, and many other things I did not understand.

From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez

Related Words

• crew
• entity
• group
• system