individual (adj.)
15世纪初, “一而不可分, 不可分割” (指三位一体), 来自中世纪拉丁文 individualis, 来自拉丁文 individuus “不可分割”, 来自 in- “不是, 相反的” (见 in- (1) ). + dividuus “divisible”, 来自 dividere “divide” (见 divide (v.) ). 原本的意思现在已经过时; 这个词在17世纪之前并不常见, 15世纪的例子可能是一个例外. 单一的, 单独的, 只有一个人或一件事“的意思是来自1610年代;” 为一个人准备“的意思是来自1889年.
Individual views a person as standing alone, or persons as standing separately before the mind: as, the rights of the individual; the rights of individuals : it is incorrect to use individual for person unemphatically; as, there were several individuals in the room. [Century Dictionary]
individual (n.)
“单一的物体或事物”, 17世纪, 来自 individual (adj. 意为“单个的人” (与群体等相对), 来自1640年代. 通俗意义上的“人” 是从1742年开始考证的. 拉丁文 individuum 作为名词的意思是“一个原子, 不可分割的粒子”, 在中世纪英语 individuum 被用于“物种的个别成员” 的意义上(15 世纪早期).
Entries linking to individual
In Old French and Middle English often en-, but most of these forms have not survived in Modern English, and the few that do (enemy, for instance) no longer are felt as negative. The rule of thumb in English has been to use in- with obviously Latin elements, un- with native or nativized ones.
early 14c., "separate into parts or pieces," from Latin dividere "to force apart, cleave, distribute," from assimilated form of dis- "apart" (see dis-) + -videre "to separate," which, according to de Vaan, is from PIE *(d)uid- "to separate, distinguish" (source also of Sanskrit avidhat "allotted," Old Avestan vida- "to devote oneself to"). He writes: "The original PIE verb ... (which became thematic in Latin) meant 'to divide in two, separate'. It lost initial *d- through dissimilation in front of the next dental stop, and was reinforced by dis- in Latin ...." Also compare devise.
It is attested from late 14c. as "sever the union or connection with," also "disunite, cause to disagree in opinion." Intransitive sense of "become separated into parts" is from 1520s. Mathematical sense "perform the operation of division" is from early 15c. Divide and rule (c. 1600) translates Latin divide et impera, a maxim of Machiavelli. Related: Divided; dividing.
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Dictionary entries near individual
indistinct
indistinguishable
indite
inditement
indium
individual
individualism
individualist
individuality
individualization
individualize
