monad

American  

[mon-ad, moh-nad] / ˈmɒn æd, ˈmoʊ næd /

noun

1. Biology.

   1. any simple, single-celled organism.

   2. any of various small, flagellate, colorless ameboids with one to three flagella, especially of the genus Monas.

2. Chemistry. an element, atom, or group having a valence of one.

3. Philosophy.

   1. (in the metaphysics of Leibniz) an unextended, indivisible, and indestructible entity that is the basic or ultimate constituent of the universe and a microcosm of it.

   2. (in the philosophy of Giordano Bruno) a basic and irreducible metaphysical unit that is spatially and psychically individuated.

   3. any basic metaphysical entity, especially having an autonomous life.

4. a single unit or entity.

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monad British  

/ ˈmɒnæd, ˈməʊ- /

noun

1. philosophy

   1. any fundamental singular metaphysical entity, esp if autonomous

   2. (in the metaphysics of Leibnitz) a simple indestructible nonspatial element regarded as the unit of which reality consists

   3. (in the pantheistic philosophy of Giordano Bruno) a fundamental metaphysical unit that is spatially extended and psychically aware

2. a single-celled organism, esp a flagellate protozoan

3. an atom, ion, or radical with a valency of one

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• monadic
  adjective
• monadically
  adverb
• monadal
  adjective
• monadical
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of monad

First recorded in 1605–15; from Late Latin monad- (stem of monas), from Greek monás (stem monád- ) “unity, monad”; see mon-, -ad ¹

Example Sentences

Each monad has its own destiny, and it acts and moves entirely of its own accord.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 29, 2016

There she found another "bantling of fate," whose Nordic features suggested that he was an atavism, or at least a primeval anachronism; in any case, a monad.

From Time Magazine Archive

And he declared that the "monad," to be rightly understood, must be regarded as analogous to our own souls.

From Religion and Science From Galileo to Bergson by Hardwick, John Charlton

The lowest monad has a mouth and means for propagating its kind, which do not belong to the primitive ovum of any higher animal.

From A Theory of Creation: A Review of 'Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation' by Bowen, Francis

Then what aid do these similarities of structure afford to the theory, that all the higher organisms have been evolved by successive steps out of the lowest monad?

From A Theory of Creation: A Review of 'Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation' by Bowen, Francis