I. ˈsiŋ-gəl adjective
Etymology: Middle English sengle, from Anglo-French, from Latin singulus one only; akin to Latin sem- one — more at same
Date: 14th century
1.
a. : not married
b. : of or relating to celibacy
2. : unaccompanied by others : lone , sole
the single survivor of the disaster
3.
a.
(1) : consisting of or having only one part, feature, or portion
single consonants
(2) : consisting of one as opposed to or in contrast with many : uniform
a single standard for men and women
(3) : consisting of only one in number
holds to a single ideal
b. : having but one whorl of petals or ray flowers
a single rose
4.
a. : consisting of a separate unique whole : individual
every single citizen
b. : of, relating to, or involving only one person
5.
a. : frank , honest
a single devotion
b. : exclusively attentive
an eye single to the truth
6. : unbroken , undivided
7. : having no equal or like : singular
8. : designed for the use of one person only
a single room
a single bed
II. noun
Date: 1604
1.
a. : a separate individual person or thing
b. : an unmarried person and especially one young and socially active — usually used in plural
c.
(1) : a recording having one short tune on each side
(2) : a music recording having two or more tracks that is shorter than a full-length album ; also : a song that is particularly popular independent of other songs on the same album or by the same artist
2. : a base hit that allows the batter to reach first base
3.
a. plural : a tennis match or similar game with one player on each side
b. : a golf match between two players — usually used in plural
4. : a room (as in a hotel) for one guest — compare double 7
III. verb
( sin·gled ; sin·gling -g(ə-)liŋ)
Date: 1628
transitive verb
1. : to select or distinguish from a number or group — usually used with out
2.
a. : to advance or score (a base runner) by a single
b. : to bring about the scoring of (a run) by a single
intransitive verb
: to make a single in baseball