individual
Americannoun
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a single human being, as distinguished from a group.
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a person.
A strange individual came around asking if we wanted to buy any lamps.
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a distinct, indivisible entity; a single thing, being, instance, or item.
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a group considered as a unit.
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Biology.
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a single organism capable of independent existence.
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a member of a compound organism or colony.
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Cards. a duplicate-bridge tournament in which each player plays the same number of hands in partnership with every other player, individual scores for each player being kept for each hand.
adjective
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single; particular; separate.
It's standard practice to number individual copies of a limited edition.
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intended for the use of one person only.
Servers handed out individual portions of a pizza to guests at the party.
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of, relating to, or characteristic of a particular person or thing.
The decor was highly reflective of his individual tastes.
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distinguished by special, singular, or markedly personal characteristics; exhibiting unique or unusual qualities.
She was known for her highly individual style of painting.
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existing as a distinct, indivisible entity, or considered as such; discrete.
It can be difficult to replace individual parts of a tea set if one breaks.
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belonging to a set or group of which each is different or of a different design from the others.
For Christmas they got a set of individual coffee cups.
adjective
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of, relating to, characteristic of, or meant for a single person or thing
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separate or distinct, esp from others of its kind; particular
please mark the individual pages
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characterized by unusual and striking qualities; distinctive
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obsolete indivisible; inseparable
noun
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a single person, esp when regarded as distinct from others
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biology
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a single animal or plant, esp as distinct from a species
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a single member of a compound organism or colony
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logic
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Also called: particular. an object as opposed to a property or class
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an element of the domain of discourse of a theory
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Usage
As a synonym for person, individual is standard, occurring in all varieties of speech and writing: Three individuals entered the room, each carrying a sheaf of papers. Some object to this use, insisting that individual can mean only “a single human being, as distinguished from a group”: An individual may have concerns that are ignored by their party.
Related Words
See person.
Other Word Forms
- individually adverb
- interindividual adjective
- nonindividual adjective
- superindividual adjective
- superindividually adverb
- transindividual adjective
Etymology
Origin of individual
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Medieval Latin indīviduālis, equivalent to Latin indīviduus “indivisible” (from in- negative prefix + dīviduus “divided or divisible into two parts”) + -ālis adjective suffix; in- 3, divide, -al 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One of the most promising approaches is quantum cryptography, which uses individual photons to generate encryption keys.
From Science Daily
"More generally, the SNP welcomes the verdict against Mr Linden and commends the bravery of the individuals who came forward and shared their experiences with the police."
From BBC
Uber said in an email to MarketWatch that its up-front fares are based on time, distance and demand conditions, and that its algorithms do not use individual driver characteristics or past behavior to determine pay.
From MarketWatch
The 4% rule suggests that an individual may withdraw 4% of their retirement savings in the first year and withdraw the same amount, adjusted for inflation, for about the next 30 years.
From MarketWatch
Director Elia Kazan was drawn to both playwrights because he understood that they were as interested in the stories of individual Americans as they were in the larger tale of America itself.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
