Singular

How to spell singular

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce singular

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does singular mean?

1. adjectiveDenoting or referring to just one person or thing, as opposed to plural.
2. adjectiveExceptional, remarkable, or unusual in a way that sets something apart.

Singular in a sentence

• The verb must agree with the singular subject of the sentence.

• She showed a singular talent for solving complex problems quickly.

• In this form the noun is singular, so it takes no final s.

• The old house had a singular charm that visitors never forgot.

Where does singular come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin singularis, meaning 'alone of its kind' or 'belonging to a single individual', which was built on singulus, 'one at a time' or 'single'. That Latin adjective could describe something solitary as well as something so distinctive that it stood apart from everything around it, and both ideas travelled into English. The word arrived in the 1300s by way of Old French singuler, and grammarians soon adopted it as the technical opposite of 'plural' to mark a word referring to just one thing. Alongside the grammatical sense, the older flavour of 'unique' survived in the meaning 'remarkable' or 'extraordinary', as in a singular talent. The same singulus root sits behind the everyday word 'single', which is a useful memory anchor: keep the -gul- in the middle, exactly as in singular, and end it with -ar rather than -er.

How the word is built

• singul- (from Latin singulus: single, individual)
• -ar (adjective-forming suffix)