individuality
[in-duh-vij-oo-al-i-tee]
- the particular character, or aggregate of qualities, that distinguishes one person or thing from others; sole and personal nature: a person of marked individuality.
- individualities, individual characteristics.
- a person or thing of individual or distinctive character.
- state or quality of being individual; existence as a distinct individual.
- the interests of the individual as distinguished from the interests of the community.
- Archaic. state or quality of being indivisible or inseparable.
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Origin of individuality
Synonym study
1. See character.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for individuality
Contemporary Examples
There are still gorgeous gowns being produced, Tfank insists, but the individuality seems to have diminished.
But some fashion-conscious Sikhs are reclaiming the individuality of their headdress.
In recounting these anecdotes and laughing at their own punch lines, the young men were asserting their individuality.
In Palestinian Theater's New York Performance, the Play After the Play is the ThingLisa Goldman
September 28, 2013
You can become free “by giving everything up—possessions, individuality, ego.”
It was an era of individuality, and it focused on the one-off and the unique.
Historical Examples
And this ideal of equality and individuality was fixed in the American mind.
'Tis Sixty Years SinceCharles Francis Adams
We have no individuality, no self-poised strength, no sense of freedom.
The Works of Whittier, Volume V (of VII)John Greenleaf Whittier
Preponderance of individuality was ever a bar to foreign travel.
American NotesRudyard Kipling
He cannot pass beyond his own individuality—he has no objective insight.
Something too much may have been said in modern times of the value of individuality.
The RepublicPlato
individuality
- distinctive or unique character or personalitya work of great individuality
- the qualities that distinguish one person or thing from another; identity
- the state or quality of being a separate entity; discreteness
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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
Word Origin and History for individuality
n.
"the aggregate of one's idiosyncrasies," 1610s, from individual + -ity. Meaning "fact of existing as an individual" is from 1650s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper