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 relationships are so close and you have to start to individuate in terms of roles and who is getting what information.
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
When death comes in bulk as constantly as it does in America, there is little time to individuate victims, to mourn them as singular persons, the way those who loved and knew them will.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 28, 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 Louis Berman 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
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
By individuating their lives in fiercely lyrical language, each in their own way sings, critiques, and dances the body electric.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 13, 2016
For this process is the cement which binds the whole together; this is the individuating principle that makes England what England is.
From The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 09 (of 12) by Edmund Burke
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