I. |ində|vij(ə)wəl, -jəl adjective
Etymology: Middle English indyvyduall, from Medieval Latin individualis indivisible, individual, from Latin individuus indivisible (from in- in- (I) + dividuus divided, divisible, from dividere to divide) + -alis -al — more at divide
1. obsolete
a. : not divisible : of one essence or nature
b. : not to be parted : inseparable
2.
a. : of, belonging to, arising from, or possessed or used by an individual
individual traits
individual possessions
the secular, modern … belief in individual human rights — A.J.Toynbee
individual self-reliance
no private adventures, no purely individual experiences — J.W.Krutch
b. : being an individual : marked by a distinctness and a complexity within a unity that characterizes organized things, concepts, organic beings, and persons
c. : intended for one person
served the pudding in individual portions
: designed to accomodate enough for one person
a small individual baking dish
: applying to one person
an individual policy in life insurance
3. : existing as a separate and distinct entity : single , singular , particular
dolls, with movable legs and arms, glass eyes, and individual teeth — Green Peyton
a bookseller … handling individual copies of net books — James Britton
consists of 96 island units (comprising some 2,141 individual islands and coral atolls) — Americana Annual
4. archaic : selfsame , identical
5.
a. : having marked individuality : being peculiar, striking, or uncommon enough in character to be easily identified or distinguished
an individual style of writing
the odor from the dump was so putrid in so individual a way that it was quite impossible to describe — Jean Stafford
b. : serving to distinguish or identify
c. : distinctive , peculiar
a threshold of susceptibility which is individual to each system — G.W.Gray b. 1886
Synonyms: see characteristic , special
II. noun
( -s )
1. : a single or particular being or thing or group of beings or things: as
a. : a particular being or thing as distinguished from a class, species, or collection
the primary subject matter of literature is precisely all that science leaves out: the individual , the particular, the concrete — H.J.Muller
(1) : a single human being as contrasted with a social group or institution
the rights of the individual
countries in distress, like individuals in ill health, are inclined to be quarrelsome — Samuel Van Valkenburg & Ellsworth Huntington
(2) : a single organism as distinguished from a group
b. : a particular person
a rather odd individual
attempting to capture rather than kill their enemies, in order that the supply of individuals for human sacrifice might be augmented — R.W.Murray
c. : the product of a single fertilization — called also genetic individual
d. : all the vegetative progeny of an organism exhibiting alternation of generations — called also genetic individual ; compare clone
e. : a single chemical substance — compare mixture 2a
2. : an indivisible entity or a totality which cannot be separated into parts without altering the character or significance of these parts
3. archaic : self , personality
4. logic
a. : something that cannot have instances : particular
b. : something referred to by a proper name ; specifically : something referred to by a name or variable of the lowest logical type in a formalized language or calculus
5. : a tournament in contract bridge in which each player changes partners after each round so that one person rather than a pair or team may be determined as winner