individuation

[ in-duh-vij-oo-ey-shuhn ]
See synonyms for individuation on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the act of individuating.

  2. state of being individuated; individual existence; individuality.

  1. Philosophy. the determination or contraction of a general nature to an individual mode of existence; development of the individual from the general.

Origin of individuation

1
First recorded in 1620–30; individuate + -ion

Other words from individuation

  • de·in·di·vid·u·a·tion, noun

Words Nearby individuation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use individuation in a sentence

  • The individuation of man appears to consist in the union of a rational soul with any convenient portion of fitly organized matter.

  • Which is because individuation beyond the normal can only be achieved by drawing upon the vital potential of offspring.

    Feminism and Sex-Extinction | Arabella Kenealy
  • Its reversal of the principle of individuation, causing excessive cell formation, produces more decidedly demonstrable effects.

    Degeneracy | Eugene S. Talbot
  • From this it appears evident, that this principle is intended to succeed that of individuation, and never to precede it.

  • That wherever the principle of grouping acted with effect, it had always been preceded by the principle of individuation.

British Dictionary definitions for individuation

individuation

/ (ˌɪndɪˌvɪdjʊˈeɪʃən) /


noun
  1. the act or process of individuating

  2. (in the psychology of Jung) the process by which the wholeness of the individual is established through the integration of consciousness and the collective unconscious

  1. zoology the development of separate but mutually interdependent units, as in the development of zooids forming a colony

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012