/yooh"ni tee/ , n. , pl. unities .
1. the state of being one; oneness.
2. a whole or totality as combining all its parts into one.
3. the state or fact of being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole; unification.
4. absence of diversity; unvaried or uniform character.
5. oneness of mind, feeling, etc., as among a number of persons; concord, harmony, or agreement.
6. Math.
a. the number one; a quantity regarded as one.
b. identity (def. 9).
7. (in literature and art) a relation of all the parts or elements of a work constituting a harmonious whole and producing a single general effect.
8. one of the three principles of dramatic structure (the three unities) derived from Aristotelian aesthetics and formalized in the neoclassic canon in which a play is required to represent action as taking place in one day (unity of time) , as occurring within one place (unity of place) , and as having a single plot with a beginning, middle, and end (unity of action) .
[ 1250-1300; ME unite unitas, equiv. to un ( us ) one + -itas -ITY ]
Syn. 1. singleness, singularity, individuality. See union. 5. concert, unison.
Ant. 1. diversity, variety.