individual
noun
- a person considered alone, rather than as belonging to a group of people
- entity, be it a thing, a person or any other agent, which is identifiable by its determined characteristics, as contrasted to a class whose characteristics may be varying among its instances
adjective
- relating to a single person or thing as opposed to more than one
- intended for a single person as opposed to more than one person
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ɪndɪˈvɪd͡ʒʊəl/ / /ɪndɪˈvɪd͡ʒʊl/ / /ɪndɪˈvɪdjʊəl/
adj
Etymology: PIE word *dwóh₁ From Medieval Latin indīviduālis, from Latin indīviduum (“an indivisible thing”), neuter of indīviduus (“indivisible, undivided”), from in + dīviduus (“divisible”), from dīvidō (“divide”).
- Relating to a single person or thing as opposed to more than one.
“Near-synonyms: individuated, solitary, self-standing, freestanding”
“As we can't print them all together, the individual pages will have to be printed one by one.”
- Intended for a single person as opposed to more than one person.
“individual personal pension”
“individual cream cakes”
- Not divisible without losing its identity.
“Near-synonyms: unatomizable, indivisible, undividable”
noun
Etymology: PIE word *dwóh₁ From Medieval Latin indīviduālis, from Latin indīviduum (“an indivisible thing”), neuter of indīviduus (“indivisible, undivided”), from in + dīviduus (“divisible”), from dīvidō (“divide”).
- A person considered alone, rather than as belonging to a group of people.
“He is an unusual individual.”
““You have to be an individual,” said Ms. Smoke, a 40-year-old saleswoman, as she sipped her beverage. “You can’t just get black coffee.””
- A single physical human being as a legal subject, as opposed to a legal person such as a corporation.
“Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination […].”
- An object, be it a thing or an agent, as contrasted to a class.
“It is typically held that chairs, trees, rocks, people and many of the so-called ‘everyday’ objects we encounter can be regarded as individuals.”
“In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.”
- An element belonging to a population.