Uniquely

How to spell uniquely

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce uniquely

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does uniquely mean?

1. adverbIn a way that belongs to or characterises only one person or thing; distinctively and unlike any other.

Uniquely in a sentence

• The recipe is uniquely suited to this region's climate.

• Her handwriting is uniquely recognisable among the team.

Where does uniquely come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin unicus, meaning 'one and only' or 'sole', which was itself built on unus, the plain Latin word for 'one'. French reshaped unicus into unique, and English adopted that adjective in the early 1600s with the sense of being the only one of its kind. The adverb 'uniquely' formed in English simply by adding the everyday -ly ending to 'unique'. The spelling trap survives from the French route: the -que ending preserves a hard 'k' sound that English spells in its own way, so writers must remember the silent-looking q-u-e rather than a plain 'k'. The same unus root still sits inside familiar relatives such as 'unit', 'union' and 'universe', all of which carry the idea of oneness.

How the word is built

• uni- (one)
• -ique (from Latin -icus, of that kind)
• -ly (adverb suffix)