individuate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to form into an individual or distinct entity.
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to give an individual or distinctive character to; individualize.
verb (used without object)
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to make distinctions.
to individuate among one's students.
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to become individualized or distinctive.
With maturity, the artist individuated.
verb
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to give individuality or an individual form to
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to distinguish from others of the same species or group; individualize
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of individuate
First recorded in 1605–15; from Medieval Latin indīviduātus, past participle of indīviduāre “to make individual”; see individual, -ate 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.
See Examples For:
The Jonas Brothers in 2023 offer cool adult-contemporary sounds for an audience that grew up with them, similarly navigating the life that emerges once you begin to individuate, become intimate and start families.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2023
Over time, when it becomes a good business, we will individuate and make our own thing.
From The Verge ● May 3, 2022
Robust peer friendships allow adolescents to safely individuate from their parents, but in these settings, peers can feel pitted against each other.
From Salon ● May 1, 2022
Second, a 2-year-old is starting to individuate, meaning he’s finding his own mind and owning his body.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2022
In fact, some most "magnetic" individuate make 'graveyards of their stomachs' as a Mental Scientist puts it.
From The Doctrine and Practice of Yoga by A. P. Mukerji
Western traditions want to assert an autonomous being who is strongly individuated from other beings.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
“It kind of has to be a collective support structure, not an individuated one of. And how do we do that without real government policy?”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 19, 2021
Such a space can represent the wish image of air travel: a personalized adventure, the individuated feeling of being spirited up and across a continent or ocean with no apparent obstacles.
From Slate ● Mar. 18, 2020
One wishes, at times, that the voices were more individuated.
From New York Times ● Apr. 2, 2019
Many of the people in the paintings are sharply individuated.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Each dancer moves with intriguing, individuating specificity: this one shaking, that one twitching sinuously or twisting like the head of a sprinkler.
From New York Times ● Sep. 25, 2022
“Counter to what we expected, the individuating information didn’t reduce or remove bias,” Ellingson said.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 9, 2021
To be “one of Harvey’s victims” is—has to be—the opposite of individuating.
From Slate ● Feb. 20, 2020
They cause trouble, however, when we refuse to take the context/environment or individuating information that we've received into account, and when we continue to over-apply our existing stereotypes in scenarios where they are really inappropriate and/or not helpful.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 15, 2015
Of those who reject the Thomistic doctrine some few contend that it is the actual existence of any specific nature that should be conceived as individuating the latter.
From Ontology or the Theory of Being by Peter Coffey
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.
