How do you pronounce singular?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˈsɪŋ.ɡjə.lɚ/.

Where does singular come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

singular

/ˈsɪŋ.ɡjə.lɚ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.74 in modern English

Syllables: sin-gu-lar
IPA: /ˈsɪŋ.ɡjə.lɚ/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Being only one of a larger population; single, individual.

adj

Being the only one of the kind; unique.

adj

Distinguished by superiority: peerless, unmatched, eminent, exceptional, extraordinary.

adj

Out of the ordinary; curious.

adj

Referring to only one thing or person.

adj

Having no inverse.

adj

Having the property that the matrix of coefficients of the new variables has a determinant equal to zero.

adj

Not equal to its own cofinality.

Example Sentences

"A singular experiment cannot be regarded as scientific proof of the existence of a phenomenon."
"And God forbid that all a company / Should rue a singular manne's folly."
"She has a singular personality."
"The busts[…] of the emperors and empresses are all very scarce, and some of them almost singular in their kind."
"singular instances"
"A group of finches, of which Mr. Gould considers there are thirteen species; and these he has distributed into for new sub-genera. These birds are the most singular of any in the archipelago."

Etymology

From Middle English singuler, from Old French, from Latin singulāris (“alone of its kind”), from Latin singulus (“single”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *sem-, singuler, -, singulāris, singulus

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈsɪŋ.ɡjə.lɚ/
British English: /ˈsɪŋ.ɡjʊ.lə/

Usage

Obsolete

Inflected Forms

more singular (comparative) most singular (superlative) sing. (alternative, abbreviation) sg. (alternative, abbreviation) sg (alternative, abbreviation) singulars (plural)

Derived Forms

cosingular equisingular hypersingular nonsingular singularise singularism singularist singularity singularization singularize singularly singularness

Phrases

first-person singular second-person singular singular existential statement singular matrix singular statement singular term singular value decomposition third-person singular

Frequently Paired Words

plural simple simplex single singulus

Synonyms

individual concrete discrete particular peculiar proper singular specific unique alone azygous incomparable

Antonyms

general catholic common ecumenical generic nonsingular nonspecific universal unparticular unsingular unspecific plural