singularity
/ˌsɪŋɡjəˈlæɹətɪ/
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.16 in modern English
Meaning
noun
A point where a measured variable reaches unmeasurable or infinite value.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The value or range of values of a function for which a derivative does not exist.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Ellipsis of gravitational singularity (“a point or region in spacetime in which gravitational forces cause matter to have an infinite density; associated with black holes”).
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Ellipsis of technological singularity (“a hypothetical turning point in the future, the culmination of ever-accelerating technological progress, when human history as we have known it ends, and a strange new era begins. For some writers, the catalyst is superhuman machine intelligence”).
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Pliny addeth this ſingularity to the Indian ſoil, that it is without weeds, that the second year the very falling down of the seeds yieldeth corn."
- "I took notice of this little figure for the singularity of the instrument."
- "A sub-cultural style or artifact, when adopted by the mainstream, loses its singularity. Once bell-bottoms became fashionable they were no longer a "gay style.""
- "When about 16 years of age I happened to meet with a book, written by one Tryon, recommending a vegetable diet. I determined to go into it. […] My refusing to eat flesh occasioned an inconveniency, and I was frequently chid for my singularity."
- ""Do you know," said she to Guido one morning, when, after asking her to sing, the Englishman had left the room in the very middle of her song, "that I have taken a fancy into my head, which quite accounts for Mr. Arden's singularities: it is, that I am like some one whom he loved and lost in early youth; and though the loss is dreadful, the love is yet pleasant to remember.""
- "At this singularity the laws of science and our ability to predict the future would break down. However, any observer who remained outside the black hole would not be affected by this failure of predictability, because neither light nor any other signal could reach him from the singularity."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: singularite, singularité, singulāritās, singulāris
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Astronomy.