uni
noun
a uniformed police officer; uniform.
uni
1 American
[yoo-nee]
/ ˈju ni /
noun
Informal.
-
a uniformed police officer; uniform.
A uni phoned in the burglary at 2:19 this morning.
-
British and Australian. university.
Tony and Marc are both off to uni in two weeks.
uni-
2
American
uni-
1
British
combining form
uni
2
British
/ ˈjuːnɪ /
noun
Usage
What does uni- mean? Uni- is a combining form used like a prefix, meaning “one.” Uni- appears in a wide variety of everyday and technical terms alike. Uni- comes from the Latin ūnus, meaning “one.” The Greek counterpart of uni- is mono-, as in monologue. Learn more at our Words That Use article on the form.
Etymology
Origin of uni1
First recorded in 1895–1900; by shortening
Origin of uni-2
< Latin ūni- combining form of ūnus one; see -i-
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:
"Uni students being paid to play a game alongside doing their studies, it's definitely cracking. If I had gone to uni, I would have loved that," he says.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
On the menu is uni pasta, hanger steak au poivre and a dry-aged burger with fries, which restaurant critic Bill Addison says doesn’t require any twists because “it’s simply a fantastic burger.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2026
Hokkaido uni has a deeper, more briny umami flavor than the Santa Barbara variety often served when the type isn’t specified.
From Salon ● Mar. 7, 2026
She likens it to "going back to uni".
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2026
“It’s not like you used to listen to me at uni, either.”
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
The visible uni- verse and material man are the poor counter- 337:24 feits of the invisible universe and spiritual man.
From Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
Hence man and the spiritual uni- 267:12 verse coexist with God.
From Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
Few deny the hypothesis that in- telligence, apart from man and matter, governs the uni- 270:12 verse; and it is generally admitted that this intelligence is the eternal Mind or divine principle, Love.
From Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
In the large genus Desmodium by far the greater number of the species are trifoliate; but some are unifoliate, and even the same plant may bear uni- and trifoliate leaves.
From The Power of Movement in Plants by Charles Darwin
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.
