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
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
Fungi are also notoriously elusive: They mostly lay underground, sprout unpredictably, and their intricately tangled networks can make them difficult to individuate as single specimens.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2021
It is only after the second year, or somewhere around that time, that the child begins to individuate, and distinct individual traits and a personality manifest their outlines.
From The Glands Regulating Personality by Berman, Louis, M.D.
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
“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
It’s a little like when we were talking about childhood and individuating.
From New York Times ● May 14, 2018
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
Now it is clear that common nature becomes distinct and multiplied by reason of the individuating principles which come from the matter.
From Summa Theologica, Part I (Prima Pars) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint
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.
