unity
[yoo-ni-tee]
- the state of being one; oneness.
- a whole or totality as combining all its parts into one.
- the state or fact of being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole; unification.
- absence of diversity; unvaried or uniform character.
- oneness of mind, feeling, etc., as among a number of persons; concord, harmony, or agreement.
- Mathematics.
- the number one; a quantity regarded as one.
- identity(def 9).
- (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).
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Origin of unity
Synonyms
See more synonyms for unity on Thesaurus.com1. singleness, singularity, individuality. 5. concert, unison.
Synonym study
1. See union.
Antonyms
1. diversity, variety.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for unity
Contemporary Examples
The whir of the circling NYPD helicopter muffled their chants calling for unity and calling out police brutality.
The pulse of the music gives the film a thrilling kind of unity.
But the unity deal failed to materialize after the Palestinian Authority declined to pay the salaries of Hamas civil servants.
But that lack of unity may be what gives Ehrlich an opportunity.
The lack of unity is “inexcusable and lets our party down,” he said.
Historical Examples
The unity of all who dwell in freedom is their only sure defense.
In the orderly transfer of power, we celebrate the unity that keeps us free.
Let us create together a new national spirit of unity and trust.
If peril could bring about unity God could bring it about even more effectively.
The Conquest of FearBasil King
Unity of opinion is not necessary to confident friendship and warm love.
Weighed and WantingGeorge MacDonald
unity
- the state or quality of being one; oneness
- 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)
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French unité, from Latin ūnitās, from ūnus one
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for unity
n.
c.1300, from Anglo-French unite, Old French unite (c.1200), from Latin unitatem (nominative unitas) "oneness, sameness, agreement," from unus "one" (see one).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper