single

See also: Single

English

English numbers (edit)
10
1 2  →  10  → 
    Cardinal: one
    Ordinal: first
    Abbreviated ordinal: 1st
    Latinate ordinal: primary
    Reverse order ordinal: last
    Latinate reverse order ordinal: ultimate
    Adverbial: one time, once
    Multiplier: onefold
    Latinate multiplier: single
    Distributive: singly
    Germanic collective: onesome
    Collective of n parts: singlet, singleton
    Greek or Latinate collective: monad
    Greek collective prefix: mono-
    Latinate collective prefix: uni-
    Fractional: whole
    Elemental: singlet, singleton
    Greek prefix: proto-
    Number of musicians: solo
    Number of years: year

Etymology

From Middle English single, sengle, from Old French sengle, saingle, sangle, from Latin singulus, a diminutive derived from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one”). Akin to Latin simplex (“simple”). See simple, and compare singular.

Pronunciation

Adjective

single (not comparable)

  1. Not accompanied by anything else; one in number.
    Synonyms: lone, sole, solitary
    Can you give me a single reason not to leave right now?
    The vase contained a single long-stemmed rose.
    • 2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist:
      The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail. It’s therefore not surprising that most cameras mimic this arrangement.
  2. Not divided in parts.
    Synonyms: unbroken, undivided, uniform
    The potatoes left the spoon and landed in a single big lump on the plate.
  3. Designed for the use of only one.
    a single room
  4. Performed by one person, or one on each side.
    a single combat
  5. Not married, and (in modern times) not dating or without a significant other.
    Synonyms: unmarried, unpartnered, available
    Forms often ask if a person is single, married, divorced, or widowed. In this context, a person who is dating someone but who has never married puts "single".
    Josh put down that he was a single male on the dating website.
  6. (botany) Having only one rank or row of petals.
  7. (obsolete) Simple and honest; sincere, without deceit.
  8. Uncompounded; pure; unmixed.
    • 1725, Isaac Watts, Logick: Or, The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry after Truth, […], 2nd edition, London: […] John Clark and Richard Hett, […], Emanuel Matthews, […], and Richard Ford, […], published 1726, →OCLC:
      simple ideas are opposed to complex , and single ideas to compound.
    • 1867, William Greenough Thayer Shedd, Homiletics, and Pastoral Theology, page 166:
      The most that is required is, that the passage of Scripture, selected as the foundation of the sacred oration, should, like the oration itself, be single, full, and unsuperfluous in its character.
  9. (obsolete) Simple; foolish; weak; silly.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

single (plural singles)

  1. (music) A vinyl record with one song on side A and one on side B, usually 7 inches in diameter and played at 45 RPM.
    Antonym: album
  3. (music) A popular song released and sold (on any format) nominally on its own though usually having at least one extra track.
    The Offspring released four singles from their most recent album.
  4. One who is not married or does not have a romantic partner.
    Antonym: married
    He went to the party, hoping to meet some friendly singles there.
  5. (cricket) A score of one run.
    He refused to take a single as the ball was dropped by his opponent's best fielder.
  6. (baseball) A hit in baseball where the batter advances to first base.
  7. (dominoes) A tile that has a different value (i.e. number of pips) at each end.
  8. (US, informal) A bill valued at $1.
    I don't have any singles, so you'll have to make change.
  9. (UK) A one-way ticket.
    • 1897 March 13 – June 19, Richard Marsh [pseudonym; Richard Bernard Heldmann], The Beetle (The Adelphi Library; 4), London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, […], published 1920, →OCLC:
      ‘I want to know, Mr Stone, if, in the course of the day, you have issued any tickets to a person dressed in Arab costume?’
      His reply was prompt.
      ‘I have — by the last train, the 7.25, — three singles.’
  10. (Canadian football) A score of one point, awarded when a kicked ball is dead within the non-kicking team's end zone or has exited that end zone.
    Synonym: (official name in the rules) rouge
  11. (tennis, chiefly in the plural) A game with one player on each side, as in tennis.
    • 1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 18:
      After tea, Mrs. Inglethorp went to lie down to rest before her efforts in the evening and I challenged Mary Cavendish to a single at tennis.
  12. One of the reeled filaments of silk, twisted without doubling to give them firmness.
  13. (UK, Scotland, dialect) A handful of gleaned grain.
  14. (computing, programming) A floating-point number having half the precision of a double-precision value.
    Coordinate term: double
    • 2011, Rubin H. Landau, A First Course in Scientific Computing, page 214:
      If you want to be a scientist or an engineer, learn to say “no” to singles and floats.
  15. (film) A shot of only one character.
    • 1990, Jon Boorstin, The Hollywood Eye: What Makes Movies Work, page 94:
      But if the same scene is shot in singles (or “over-the-shoulder” shots where one of the actors is only a lumpy shoulder in the foreground), the editor and the director can almost redirect the scene on film.
  16. A single cigarette.
  17. (rail transport, obsolete) Synonym of single-driver.
    • 1945 March and April, “Preserving Historic Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 64:
      A few such examples have been preserved, as is well known, such as one of the Stirling 8-ft. singles of the late Great Northern Railway, the Great Western 4-4-0 City of Truro, ex-Caledonian single-driver No. 123, the Brighton 0-4-2 Gladstone, and others.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Dutch: single
  • → Finnish: sinkku
  • → German: Single
  • → Indonesian: singel
  • → Japanese: シングル (shinguru)
  • → Korean: 싱글 (singgeul)
  • → Polish: singiel
  • → Portuguese: single
  • → Romanian: single
  • → Spanish: single
  • → Turkish: single

Translations

See also

Verb

single (third-person singular simple present singles, present participle singling, simple past and past participle singled)

  1. (baseball) To get a hit that advances the batter exactly one base.
    Pedro singled in the bottom of the eighth inning, which, if converted to a run, would put the team back into contention.
  2. (agriculture) To thin out.
    • 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 7, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:
      Paul went joyfully, and spent the afternoon helping to hoe or to single turnips with his friend.
    • 1916, Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, page 241:
      The seeds did not germinate in many parts of a row until rains in end of June and thunderplumps in first week of July brought them up later in patches, so that no second sowing was necessary, but singling was done by stages.
  3. (of a horse) To take the irregular gait called singlefoot.
    • 1860, William S. Clark, Massachusetts Agricultural College Annual Report:
      Many very fleet horses, when overdriven, adopt a disagreeable gait, which seems to be a cross between a pace and a trot, in which the two legs of one side are raised almost but not quite, simultaneously. Such horses are said to single, or to be single-footed.
  4. (intransitive, archaic) To sequester; to withdraw; to retire.
  5. (intransitive, archaic) To take alone, or one by one; to single out.
  6. (transitive) To reduce (a railway) to single track.
    • 1959 June, “Talking of Trains: North Eastern report”, in Trains Illustrated, page 293:
      In the east of Yorkshire, Mr. A. M. Ross reports the belief of local railwaymen that the N.E.R. plans to single the York-Beverley line, leaving an adequate provision of passing loops, and to operate it by C.T.C. from York; […]
    • 1962 October, “Talking of Trains: New signalbox at Twyford”, in Modern Railways, page 226:
      The Henley branch, recently singled and fully track-circuited, is worked by acceptance lever between Twyford and Shiplake cabins.
    • 2020 November 18, Paul Bigland, “New infrastructure and new rolling stock”, in RAIL, number 918, page 48:
      Sadly, it's not the quickest route as much of it has been singled, but it still boasts some attractive stations as well as an active Community Rail Partnership, one of the first in the country.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Number 1 2 3 4 5
Modifier single / solo double / twofold triple / threefold quadruple / fourfold quintuple / pentuple / fivefold
Whole loner / singleton / monad pair / couple / twosome / duo / dyad trio / threesome / triad / troika foursome / quartet / tetrad fivesome / quintet / pentad
Part only one / singlet twin / one of two / doublet triplet / one of three quadruplet / one of four quintuplet / pentuplet / one of five
Number 6 7 8 9 10
Modifier sextuple / hextuple / sixfold septuple / heptuple / sevenfold octuple / eightfold ninefold / nonuple tenfold / decuple
Whole sixsome / sextet / hexad sevensome / septet / heptad eightsome / octet / octad ninesome / nonet / ennead tensome / decet / decad
Part sextuplet / hextuplet / one of six one of seven / septuplet / heptuplet octuplet / one of eight one of nine / nonuplet one of ten / decuplet
Number 11 12 13 100 many
Modifier elevenfold / undecuple / hendecuple twelvefold / duodecuple thirteenfold / tredecuple a hundredfold / centuple multiple
Whole elevensome twelvesome thirteensome hundredsome
Part one of eleven / undecuplet / hendecuplet one of twelve / duodecuplet one of thirteen / tredecuplet one of a hundred / centuplet one of many / multiplet

References

Anagrams

Alemannic German

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English single.

Adjective

single (indeclinable)

  1. single (not in a relationship)
    Antonym: vergee

Catalan

Etymology

    Borrowed from English single.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    single m (plural singles)

    1. (music) single

    Further reading

    Dutch

    Etymology

    Borrowed from English single.

    Pronunciation

    • (music record or track): IPA(key): /ˈsɪŋ.əl/, /ˈsɪŋ.ɡəl/
    • ((person) without romantic partner): IPA(key): /ˈsɪŋ.ɡəl/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Hyphenation: sin‧gle

    Noun

    single m (plural singles, diminutive singletje n)

    1. a single (short music record, e.g. 45 RPM vinyl with an A side and a B side; main track of such a record)
    2. a single (person without a romantic partner)
      Synonym: alleenstaande

    Derived terms

    Adjective

    single (not comparable)

    1. single (without a romantic partner)
      Synonyms: alleenstaand, alleengaand

    Declension

    Declension of single
    uninflected single
    inflected single
    comparative —
    positive
    predicative/adverbial single
    indefinite m./f. sing. single
    n. sing. single
    plural single
    definite single
    partitive singles

    Finnish

    Etymology

    Borrowed from English single.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈsiŋle/, [ˈs̠iŋle̞]
    • Rhymes: -iŋle
    • Syllabification(key): sing‧le
    • Hyphenation(key): sing‧le

    Noun

    single

    1. single (45 rpm record; track nominally released on its own)

    Declension

    Inflection of single (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
    nominative single singlet
    genitive singlen singlejen
    partitive singleä singlejä
    illative singleen singleihin
    singular plural
    nominative single singlet
    accusative nom. single singlet
    gen. singlen
    genitive singlen singlejen
    singlein rare
    partitive singleä singlejä
    inessive singlessä singleissä
    elative singlestä singleistä
    illative singleen singleihin
    adessive singlellä singleillä
    ablative singleltä singleiltä
    allative singlelle singleille
    essive singlenä singleinä
    translative singleksi singleiksi
    abessive singlettä singleittä
    instructive — singlein
    comitative See the possessive forms below.
    Possessive forms of single (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
    first-person singular possessor
    singular plural
    nominative singleni singleni
    accusative nom. singleni singleni
    gen. singleni
    genitive singleni singlejeni
    singleini rare
    partitive singleäni singlejäni
    inessive singlessäni singleissäni
    elative singlestäni singleistäni
    illative singleeni singleihini
    adessive singlelläni singleilläni
    ablative singleltäni singleiltäni
    allative singlelleni singleilleni
    essive singlenäni singleinäni
    translative singlekseni singleikseni
    abessive singlettäni singleittäni
    instructive — —
    comitative — singleineni
    second-person singular possessor
    singular plural
    nominative singlesi singlesi
    accusative nom. singlesi singlesi
    gen. singlesi
    genitive singlesi singlejesi
    singleisi rare
    partitive singleäsi singlejäsi
    inessive singlessäsi singleissäsi
    elative singlestäsi singleistäsi
    illative singleesi singleihisi
    adessive singlelläsi singleilläsi
    ablative singleltäsi singleiltäsi
    allative singlellesi singleillesi
    essive singlenäsi singleinäsi
    translative singleksesi singleiksesi
    abessive singlettäsi singleittäsi
    instructive — —
    comitative — singleinesi
    first-person plural possessor
    singular plural
    nominative singlemme singlemme
    accusative nom. singlemme singlemme
    gen. singlemme
    genitive singlemme singlejemme
    singleimme rare
    partitive singleämme singlejämme
    inessive singlessämme singleissämme
    elative singlestämme singleistämme
    illative singleemme singleihimme
    adessive singlellämme singleillämme
    ablative singleltämme singleiltämme
    allative singlellemme singleillemme
    essive singlenämme singleinämme
    translative singleksemme singleiksemme
    abessive singlettämme singleittämme
    instructive — —
    comitative — singleinemme
    second-person plural possessor
    singular plural
    nominative singlenne singlenne
    accusative nom. singlenne singlenne
    gen. singlenne
    genitive singlenne singlejenne
    singleinne rare
    partitive singleänne singlejänne
    inessive singlessänne singleissänne
    elative singlestänne singleistänne
    illative singleenne singleihinne
    adessive singlellänne singleillänne
    ablative singleltänne singleiltänne
    allative singlellenne singleillenne
    essive singlenänne singleinänne
    translative singleksenne singleiksenne
    abessive singlettänne singleittänne
    instructive — —
    comitative — singleinenne
    third-person possessor
    singular plural
    nominative singlensä singlensä
    accusative nom. singlensä singlensä
    gen. singlensä
    genitive singlensä singlejensä
    singleinsä rare
    partitive singleään
    singleänsä     		singlejään
    singlejänsä
    inessive singlessään
    singlessänsä     		singleissään
    singleissänsä
    elative singlestään
    singlestänsä     		singleistään
    singleistänsä
    illative singleensä singleihinsä
    adessive singlellään
    singlellänsä     		singleillään
    singleillänsä
    ablative singleltään
    singleltänsä     		singleiltään
    singleiltänsä
    allative singlelleen
    singlellensä     		singleilleen
    singleillensä
    essive singlenään
    singlenänsä     		singleinään
    singleinänsä
    translative singlekseen
    singleksensä     		singleikseen
    singleiksensä
    abessive singlettään
    singlettänsä     		singleittään
    singleittänsä
    instructive — —
    comitative — singleineen
    singleinensä

    Derived terms

    compounds

    See also

    Further reading

    French

    Etymology

    From English single.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /siŋ.ɡœl/

    Noun

    single m (plural singles)

    1. single room
    2. (music) single
      Synonyms: format court, (Canada) monoplage, simple

    Further reading

    Italian

    Etymology

      Borrowed from English single.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈsin.ɡol/[1]
      • Rhymes: -inɡol
      • Hyphenation: sìn‧gle

      Noun

      single m or f by sense (invariable)

      1. single, loner (person who lives alone and has no emotional ties)

      Adjective

      single (invariable)

      1. single (unmarried, not in a relationship)
        Synonym: (formal) celibe

      References

      1. ^ “single” in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

      Kapampangan

      Alternative forms

      • singlai, singlay (obsolete)

      Etymology

      From sangle.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /sɪŋˈle/ [sɪŋˈlɛː]
      • Hyphenation: sing‧le

      Noun

      singlé

      1. fried rice

      Verb

      singlé

      1. complete aspect of isangle

      Norwegian Bokmål

      Alternative forms

      Etymology 1

      Borrowed from English single and singles.

      Adjective

      single

      1. plural of singel

      Noun

      single m (definite singular singlen, indefinite plural singler, definite plural singlene)

      1. (music) a single (record or CD)
        Synonym: singelplate
      2. (sports) singles (e.g. in tennis)

      Etymology 2

      From singel.

      Verb

      single (imperative single, present tense singler, simple past and past participle singla or singlet)

      1. to sprinkle or scatter shingle

      References

      Norwegian Nynorsk

      Alternative forms

      Etymology

      Borrowed from English single and singles.

      Noun

      single m (definite singular singlen, indefinite plural singlar, definite plural singlane)

      1. (music) a single (record or CD)
      2. (sports) singles (e.g. in tennis)

      Synonyms

      References

      Polish

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈsiŋ.ɡlɛ/
      • Rhymes: -iŋɡlɛ
      • Syllabification: sin‧gle

      Etymology 1

        See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

        Noun

        single m inan

        1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of singel (“single game”)

        Etymology 2

          See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

          Noun

          single m pers

          1. nominative/vocative plural of singel (“unmarried person”)

          Etymology 3

            See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

            Noun

            single m inan

            1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of singiel (“musical single”)

            Etymology 4

              See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

              Noun

              single m pers

              1. nominative/vocative plural of singiel (“single person”)

              Portuguese

              Etymology

                Unadapted borrowing from English single.

                Pronunciation

                • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈsĩ.ɡow/

                Noun

                single m (plural singles)

                1. (music) single (song released on its own or with an extra track)

                Further reading

                Romanian

                Etymology

                  Unadapted borrowing from English single. Doublet of singur.

                  Noun

                  single n (plural single-uri)

                  1. single (album)

                  Declension

                  singular plural
                  indefinite definite indefinite definite
                  nominative-accusative single singleul single-uri single-urile
                  genitive-dative single singleului single-uri single-urilor
                  vocative singleule single-urilor

                  Spanish

                  Pronunciation

                  • IPA(key): /ˈsinɡle/ [ˈsĩŋ.ɡle]
                  • Rhymes: -inɡle
                  • Syllabification: sin‧gle

                  Etymology 1

                    Unadapted borrowing from English single. Doublet of sendos.

                    Noun

                    single m (plural singles)

                    1. single (song released)
                      Synonym: sencillo

                    Noun

                    single m or f by sense (plural singles)

                    1. single, single person
                      Synonyms: soltero m, soltera f

                    Etymology 2

                    Verb

                    single

                    1. inflection of singlar:
                      1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
                      2. third-person singular imperative

                    Further reading

                    Turkish

                    Etymology

                      Unadapted borrowing from English single.

                      Pronunciation

                      • IPA(key): /siŋɡɫ̩/

                      Noun

                      single (definite accusative singleı, plural singlelar)

                      1. (music) single

                      Declension

                      Declension of single
                      singular plural
                      nominative single singlelar
                      definite accusative singleı singleları
                      dative singlea singlelara
                      locative singleda singlelarda
                      ablative singledan singlelardan
                      genitive singleın singleların
                      This page is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.