individual

American  

[in-duh-vij-oo-uhl] / ˌɪn dəˈvɪdʒ u əl /

noun

individuals plural

1. a single human being, as distinguished from a group.

2. a person.

   A strange individual came around asking if we wanted to buy any lamps.

3. a distinct, indivisible entity; a single thing, being, instance, or item.

4. a group considered as a unit.

5. Biology.

   1. a single organism capable of independent existence.

   2. a member of a compound organism or colony.

6. 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.

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adjective

1. single; particular; separate.

   It's standard practice to number individual copies of a limited edition.

2. intended for the use of one person only.

   Servers handed out individual portions of a pizza to guests at the party.

3. of, relating to, or characteristic of a particular person or thing.

   The decor was highly reflective of his individual tastes.

4. distinguished by special, singular, or markedly personal characteristics; exhibiting unique or unusual qualities.

   She was known for her highly individual style of painting.

5. 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.

6. 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.

individual British  

/ ˌɪndɪˈvɪdjʊəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, characteristic of, or meant for a single person or thing

2. separate or distinct, esp from others of its kind; particular

   please mark the individual pages

3. characterized by unusual and striking qualities; distinctive

4. obsolete indivisible; inseparable

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noun

1. a single person, esp when regarded as distinct from others

2. biology

   1. a single animal or plant, esp as distinct from a species

   2. a single member of a compound organism or colony

3. logic

   1. Also called: particular.  an object as opposed to a property or class

   2. an element of the domain of discourse of a theory

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

• interindividual
  adjective
• nonindividual
  adjective
• superindividual
  adjective
• transindividual
  adjective
• individually
  adverb
• superindividually
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• individuals
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

individual individuals

That meant that even small declines in individual names could have big impacts on Situational’s portfolio.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Soong won the CIF state individual championship as a freshman.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

"Football will survive regimes. Does it cause a headache? Of course. You have to be realistic about that. That is the beauty of our game, it is bigger than any individual and country."

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

For a beneficiary of a high-deductible health plan, the minimum deductible in 2026 is $1,700 for an individual or $3,400 for a family, with out-of-pocket maximums capped at $8,500 and $17,000, respectively.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026

He pulled a small lunch cooler out of his backpack and became completely engrossed in pouring out individual portions of raw almonds and golden raisins into cereal bowls he’d wrapped in plastic.

From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen

The report cited the rise of AI, which it said “allows criminal actors to potentially conduct successful fraud schemes against individuals, businesses, and financial institutions.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

"We are already observing individuals exploiting the new Google Earth web tool to make military positions, relabel buildings as schools, and experiment with manipulating the information environment," the group wrote on X.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

To represent the 10-year returns for each category of alternative assets, he used the largest fund offered to individuals that has a 10-year track record.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Scam artists do use public obituaries, public records and stolen personal data to identify recently deceased individuals and their surviving relatives, or even former relatives like you.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026

At its peak, there were around 150 active members of the Youth Corps in Durham, with a core group of perhaps thirty highly committed individuals.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Related Words

• lone
• original
• particular
• personal
• respective
• separate
• single
• singular
• sole
• special
• specific