(in literature and art) a relation of all the parts or elements of a work constituting a harmonious whole and producing a single general effect.
one of the three principles of dramatic structure (the three unities) derived from Aristotelian aesthetics and formalized in the neoclassic canon in which a play is required to represent action as taking place in one day (unity of time), as occurring within one place (unity of place), and as having a single plot with a beginning, middle, and end (unity of action).
Origin of unity
1250–1300;Middle Englishunite < Old French < Latinūnitās, equivalent to ūn(us) one + -itās-ity
Related formsnon·u·ni·ty, noun,pluralnon·u·ni·ties.self-u·ni·ty, nounsu·per·u·ni·ty, noun
the act, state, or quality of forming a whole from separate parts
something whole or complete that is composed of separate parts
mutual agreement; harmony or concordthe participants were no longer in unity
uniformity or constancyunity of purpose
maths
the number or numeral one
a quantity assuming the value of onethe area of the triangle was regarded as unity
the element of a set producing no change in a number following multiplication
the arrangement of the elements in a work of art in accordance with a single overall design or purpose
any one of the three principles of dramatic structure deriving from Aristotle's Poetics by which the action of a play should be limited to a single plot (unity of action), a single location (unity of place), and the events of a single day (unity of time)
Word Origin for unity
C13: from Old French unité, from Latin ūnitās, from ūnus one
c.1300, from Anglo-French unite, Old French unite (c.1200), from Latin unitatem (nominative unitas) "oneness, sameness, agreement," from unus "one" (see one).
