singulus

Latin

**Latin numbers ^(edit)**
	10
	I 1	2 →	10 →
Cardinal: ūnus Ordinal: prīmus Adverbial: semel Proportional: simplus Multiplier: simplex Distributive: singulus, prīvus Collective: ūniō Fractional: integer

Etymology

Uncertain. Theories include:

From Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one”) + *gʰ- (distributive particle).^[1]^[2] Compare Ancient Greek δίχα (díkha, “in two”), Albanian gjithë (“whole”), and Old Armenian եզ (ez, “one”).
From Proto-Indo-European *sem + *-go- + *-ló-s. Compare Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌺𐌻𐍃 (ainakls, “alone”), Ancient Greek ἵγγιᾱ (híngiā, “one(?)”).^[3]

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsɪŋ.ɡʊ.ɫʊs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsiŋ.ɡu.lus]

Numeral

singulus (feminine singula, neuter singulum); first/second-declension numeral

(in the plural) one each, one apiece
each one, every one
- 63 BCE, Cicero, In Catilinam orationes 1.5:
  [...] crēscit in diēs singulōs hostium numerus; [...].
  The enemy grows more numerous with each [passing] day.
- c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico VII.16:
  in singula diei tempora
  in every hour of the day
- c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico VII.17:
  Caesar cum [...] singulas legiones appellaret
  when Caesar addressed every legion
- c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca Minor, De brevitate vitae 13:
  Persequi singulos longum est quorum aut latrunculi aut pila aut excoquendi in sole corporis cura consumpsere uitam.
  It would be tedious to mention all the different men who have spent the whole of their life over chess or ball or the practice of baking their bodies in the sun.
one at a time, one by one
separate, single

Usage notes

In Classical Latin, this adjective was used only in the plural,^[4] functioning as the distributive form of the numeral 1. Thus, the English descendant single is somewhat of a false friend: Classical Latin used other words such as ūnus, singulāris, sōlus when a grammatically singular adjective with the sense of "lone", "sole", "single", "singular" was needed (although singulus can be found with this sense pre- and post-classically).^[4]

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
nominative	singulus	singula	singulum	singulī	singulae	singula
genitive	singulī	singulae	singulī	singulōrum	singulārum	singulōrum
dative	singulō	singulae	singulō	singulīs
accusative	singulum	singulam	singulum	singulōs	singulās	singula
ablative	singulō	singulā	singulō	singulīs
vocative	singule	singula	singulum	singulī	singulae	singula

Derived terms

singulāris
singulārius
singulātim/ singillātim

Descendants

Aromanian: singur
Catalan: sengles
Dalmatian: sanglo
Friulian: sengul
Italian: singolo
Ladin: singul
Old French: sengle
- → English: single
  - → Irish: singil
Old Galician-Portuguese: senllos
- Galician: senllos
- Portuguese: senhos, >? sendos (perhaps from Spanish?)
Old Spanish: senlos, seños, sennos, sendos
- Spanish: sendos
Romanian: singur
Sicilian: sìngulu

From diminutive *singellus:

Asturian: cenciellu
Galician: sinxelo
Mirandese: senzielho, sencielho
Portuguese: singelo
Spanish: sencillo
- → Catalan: senzill (via Spanish)

References

^ Meiser, Gerhard (1998), Historische Laut- und Formenlehre der lateinischen Sprache, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, →ISBN, page 177
^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “singulī”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 566
^ Walde, Alois; Hofmann, Johann Baptist (1954), “singulus”, in Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), 3rd edition, volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, page 544
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 “singuli”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press