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Origin and history of singular

singular(adj.)

mid-14c., singuler, "alone, apart; being a unit; special, unsurpassed," from Old French singuler "personal, particular; distinctive; singular in number" (12c., Modern French singulier) or directly from Latin singularis "single, solitary, one by one, one at a time; peculiar, remarkable," from singulus "one, one to each, individual, separate" (see single (adj.)).

In grammar, "relating to one person or thing," late 14c. The meaning "remarkably good, unusual, rare, separated from others (by excellence), uncommon" is from c. 1400 in English; this also was a frequent meaning of Latin singularis. The meaning "out of the usual course, somewhat strange" (shading toward "eccentric, peculiar") is by 1680s.

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to singular

single(adj.)

early 14c., "unmarried," from Old French sengle, sangle "alone, unaccompanied; simple, unadorned," from Latin singulus "one, one to each, individual, separate" (usually in plural singuli "one by one"), from PIE *semgolo‑, suffixed (diminutive?) form of root *sem- (1) "one; as one, together with."

The meaning "consisting of one unit, individual, unaccompanied by others" is from late 14c., often merely emphatic. The meaning "undivided" is from 1580s. Single-parent (adj.) is attested from 1966.

singularly(adv.)

late 14c., singularli, "exclusively, alone, solely; uniquely; individually; in an unusual way, especially," from singular + -ly (2).

*sem-(1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "one; as one, together with."

It might form all or part of: anomalous; anomaly; assemble; assimilate; ensemble; facsimile; fulsome; hamadryad; haplo-; haploid; hendeca-; hendiadys; henotheism; hetero-; heterodox; heterosexual; homeo-; homeopathy; homeostasis; homily; homo- (1) "same, the same, equal, like;" homogenous; homoiousian; homologous; homonym; homophone; homosexual; hyphen; resemble; same; samizdat; samovar; samsara; sangha; Sanskrit; seem; seemly; semper-; sempiternal; similar; simple; simplex; simplicity; simulacrum; simulate; simulation; simultaneous; single; singlet; singular; some; -some (1); -some (2); verisimilitude.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit sam "together," samah "even, level, similar, identical;" Avestan hama "similar, the same;" Greek hama "together with, at the same time," homos "one and the same," homios "like, resembling," homalos "even;" Latin similis "like;" Old Irish samail "likeness;" Old Church Slavonic samu "himself."

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    curious
    mid-14c., "subtle, sophisticated;" late 14c., "eager to know, inquisitive, desirous of seeing" (often in a bad sense), also "wrought with or requiring care and art;" from Old French curios "solicitous, anxious, inquisitive; odd, strange" (Modern French curieux) and directly from
    funny
    "humorous," 1756, from fun (n.) + -y (2). Meaning "strange, odd, causing perplexity" is by 1806, said to be originally U.S. Southern (marked as colloquial in Century Dictionary). The two senses of the word led to the retort question "funny ha-ha or funny peculiar," which is attes
    odd
    c. 1300, odde, "constituting a unit in excess of an even number," from Old Norse oddi "third or additional number," as in odda-maðr "third man, odd man (who gives the casting vote)," odda-tala "odd number." The literal meaning of Old Norse oddi is "point of land, angle" (related
    be
    ); ARE (present 2nd person singular and all plural); IS (present 3rd person singular); WAS (past 1st and 3rd persons singular...The paradigm in Old English was: eom, beo (present 1st person singular); eart, bist (present 2nd person singular); is, bið...(present 3rd person singular);  sind, sindon, beoð (present plural in all persons); wæs (past 1st and 3rd person singular...); wære (past 2nd person singular); wæron (past plural in all persons); wære (singular subjunctive preterit); wæren (plural...
    floruit
    "period during which a historical person's life work was done," 1843, Latin, literally "he flourished," third person singular...The third person singular present subjunctive of the verb, floreat, sometimes is attached to proper names "to indicate the...
    's
    suffix forming the genitive or possessive singular case of most Modern English nouns; its use gradually was extended in Middle...In Middle English, both the possessive singular and the common plural forms were regularly spelled es, and when the e was...possessive, was carried over into the plural, but was written after the s to differentiate that form from the possessive singular...Sentences and their Elements," New York: Macmillan, 1911] As a suffix forming some adverbs, it represents the genitive singular...
    were
    Old English wæron (past plural indicative of wesan) and wære (second person singular past indicative); see was....Wast (second person singular) was formed 1500s on analogy of be/beest, displacing were....
    rum
    "liquor distilled from the juice of sugar cane or molasses," 1650s, apparently a shortening of rumbullion (1651), rombostion (1652), words all of uncertain origin, but suspicion falls on rum (adj.) "excellent, fine, good, valuable;" the phrase rum bouse "good liquor" is attested
    form
    c. 1200, forme, fourme, "semblance, image, likeness," from Old French forme, fourme, "physical form, appearance; pleasing looks; shape, image; way, manner" (12c.), from Latin forma "form, contour, figure, shape; appearance, looks; a fine form, beauty; an outline, a model, pattern
    from
    Old English fram, preposition denoting departure or movement away in time or space, from Proto-Germanic *fra "forward, away from" (source also of Old Saxon, Old High German, Gothic fram "from, away," Old Norse fra "from," fram "forward"), from PIE *pro-mo-, suffixed form of *pro

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