individual

nounadjectivecommon in dialogue

United States//ˌɪndɪˈvɪd͡ʒ(u)əl//
//ɪndɪˈvɪd͡ʒʊəl//
//ɪndɪˈvɪd͡ʒʊl//
//ɪndɪˈvɪdjʊəl//
//ɪndɪˈvɪdjʊl//

A person considered alone, rather than as belonging to a group of people.

noun

1
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.”
2
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 […].
3
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.
4
An element belonging to a population.

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”). Displaced native Old English hād (“person, individual”).

adjective

1
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.
Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.
2
Intended for a single person as opposed to more than one person.
individual personal pension
individual cream cakes
3
Not divisible without losing its identity.
Near-synonyms: unatomizable, indivisible, undividable

Forms

plural: individuals
comparative: more individual
superlative: most individual

indispensable · Absolutely necessary or requisite; that one cannot do without.indistinct · not clearly defined or not having a sharp outline; faint or…indistinctly · In an indistinct manner.

individual · A person considered alone, rather than as belonging to a group of people.

individually · As individuals, separately, independently.Indonesia · A country and archipelago in maritime Southeast Asia.…indoor · Situated in, or designed to be used in, or carried on within,…

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.