individual
Americannoun
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individuals
plural
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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.
Synonym Usage
See person.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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interindividualadjective
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nonindividualadjective
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superindividualadjective
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transindividualadjective
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individuallyadverb
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superindividuallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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; cf. in- 3, divide, -al 1
Explanation
The word individual is all about being a single entity that cannot be divided. It can mean person or even personal. A team is made up of individuals, and each individual has individual strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes individual is a way of referring to a person, quasi-formally. You might elevate the phrase "This guy walks into my shop," by saying, "This individual walks into my shop." You might also hear this word when talking about things that are divided: foods designed for lunchboxes, such as potato chips or juice boxes, are often prepackaged into individual servings.
Vocabulary lists containing individual
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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"The Civil Rights Movement"
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Herbert Hoover on "Rugged Individualism" (1928)
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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.
See Examples For:
The scandal hit the headlines just over a month ago, with prosecutors looking into allegations of widespread market manipulation affecting the savings of some 455,000 individual investors.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026
But doctors can sometimes opt not to resuscitate people - as can individuals themselves in advance - for example, if the individual is extremely frail or has a life-limiting illness.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
Many emerging quantum technologies depend on extremely small objects, such as individual atoms and molecules, that interact with light.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2026
She equalled the record for the most points by an individual England player in a Women's World Cup match.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
Her voice drifted away as her fingers tugged at the individual petals.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Fernandez suggests that the aging brain may be adapting to help individuals preserve and share the knowledge they have acquired throughout their lives.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2026
"This officer was going to speak to two individuals who were acting suspiciously, and this happened," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
Federal authorities said 21 of the 28 individuals charged are suspected of actually voting, some in multiple elections.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026
Pop quiz: Artificial-intelligence giant Anthropic on Sunday announced it is creating a new fund to parcel out cash to existing nonprofits and maybe some individuals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
Under natural conditions, a typical chimpanzee troop consists of about twenty to fifty individuals.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
