| 释义 |
unique, a. and n.|juːˈniːk|
Also 7 unick(e, 7–8 unic.
[a. F. unique († unic masc.), ad. L. ūnic-us (whence also Sp., Pg., It. unico) single, sole, alone of its kind, f. ūnus one. In early use also directly ad. L. ūnicus, and stressed on the first syllable.
Regarded by Todd (1818) as ‘an affected and useless term of modern times’.]
A. adj.
1. Of which there is only one; one and no other; single, sole, solitary.
1602Dolman La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1618) III. 639 Engendring one eternitie, and by an alone vnique action never disturbed, his linage full of understanding. c1645Howell Lett. II. xliv, He hath lost..his unic Son in the very flower of his age. 1677Gale Crt. Gentiles iv. i. ii. 53 Divines, who make..right Reason the unic Criterion or Rule of moral Virtue.
1818Todd, Unique, adj.,..sole;..without another of the same kind known to exist. 1861Paley æschylus, Prometh. (ed. 2) 39 The student will notice the unique example of στιχοµυθία. 1873Hamerton Intell. Life iii. iii. 87 A man..who made Latin scholarship his unique intellectual purpose. 1882Farrar Early Chr. II. 476 St. John instantly leaves the subject..to which he has made this unique and passing allusion.
2. a. That is or forms the only one of its kind; having no like or equal; standing alone in comparison with others, freq. by reason of superior excellence; unequalled, unparalleled, unrivalled.
In this sense readopted from French at the end of the 18th c. and regarded as a foreign word down to the middle of the 19th, from which date it has been in very common use, with a tendency to take the wider meaning of ‘uncommon, unusual, remarkable’.
The usage in the comparative and superlative, and with advs. as absolutely, most, quite, thoroughly, totally, etc., has been objected to as tautological.
1618W. Barclay Well at King-horne A vij, This is a soueraigne and vnicke remedie for that disease in Women. 1794R. J. Sulivan View Nat. I. 3 A concentrated, and an unique aggregation of almost all the wonders of the natural world. 1809R. K. Porter Trav. Sk. Russia & Sweden (1813) I. xxv. 285 As it was thoroughly unique, I cannot forbear presenting you with so singular a curiosity. 1842J. P. Collier Armin's Nest Ninn. Introd., A relic..not only unique in itself, but unprecedented in its kind. 1866Liddon Bamp. Lect. v. (1867) 368 [Christ's] relationship to the Father..is absolutely unique. 1871B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. ii. i. 84 A thing so totally unique The great collectors would go far to seek. 1885Harper's Mag. April 703/1 When..these summer guests found themselves defrauded of their uniquest recreations. 1908K. Grahame Wind in Willows viii. 168 ‘Toad Hall,’ said the Toad proudly, ‘is an eligible self-contained gentleman's residence, very unique.’ 1912Chesterton Manalive i. iii. 86 Diana Duke..began putting away the tea things. But it was not before Inglewood had seen an instantaneous picture so unique that he might well have snapshotted it. 1939Country Life 11 Feb. p. xviii/2 (Advt.), Almost the most unique residential site along the south coast. 1960[see diquat]. 1980Verbatim Autumn 15/2 A high-ranking state Alcoholic Beverage Commission official said Friday that Wednesday's retroactive renewal and transfer of the beverage permit of the rural Bloomington Liars' Lodge by the Monroe County Alcoholic Beverage Board was ‘unique but not uncommon’.
b. Of persons.
1808Foster Contrib. Eclectic Rev. (1844) I. 233 [Sir T. More] is a person so unique in the records of statesmen, that [etc.]. 1871Blackie Four Phases 15 Such a unique mortal..no man can describe. 1885Mabel Collins Prettiest Woman xi, He believed this woman whom he loved to be unique. 1934G. B. Shaw On Rocks ii. 262 You don't appreciate him. He is absolutely unique. 1938[see chef d'école].
c. absol. with the: (see quots.).
1767Phil. Trans. LVIII. 26 All these are examples of the unique; that is, of quantities in a state that is..exclusive of all others. 1849C. Brontë Shirley xxiii, She felt that Rose Yorke was a peculiar child—one of the unique.
†3. Formed or consisting of one or a single thing. Obs.—1
a1631Donne Lett. (1651) 163 A Mathematique point, which is the most indivisible and unique thing which art can present.
B. n.
1. a. A thing of which there is only one example, copy, or specimen; esp., in early use, a coin or medal of this class.
1714R. Thoresby Diary 23 June, My Lord showed me some unics and other valuable curiosities. 1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 47 It..may be an Unic, for what we know as yet. 1774Gentl. Mag. XLIV. 8 A coin, which I have reason to think is a Unic. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey ii. viii, Mr. Vivian Grey had promised his Lordship, who was a collector of medals, an unique which had never yet been heard of. 1872O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. iii. 89 A unique, sir, and there is a pleasure in exclusive possession.
†b. Something of which only one is possessed by a person or persons. Obs. rare.
1783H. Walpole Let. to C'tess Upper Ossory 20 June, Lady Pembroke having lent them a servant besides their own unique. 1806T. S. Surr Winter in Lond. III. 170 This Belcher girdle was not old; but being an unique, it had been..constantly in use.
2. a. A thing, fact, or circumstance which by reason of exceptional or special qualities stands alone and is without equal or parallel in its kind.
1768Phil. Trans. LVIII. 215 When I presented this map to the Academy..it was looked upon as an Unique. 1781Gentl. Mag. LI. 280/2 The dedication [of a volume of Sermons] being an unique in its kind. 1794Paley Evid. ii. ix. iii. ad fin., The propagation of Christianity..is an unique in the history of the species. 1835Tait's Mag. II. 651 It is..an unique in English biography. 1838De Quincey Lamb Wks. 1858 IX. 156 Of Lamb's writings..some were so memorably beautiful as to be uniques in their class. 1844N. Brit. Rev. I. 124 A conflict, that stands out from all shadow of parallelism—a wild originality—a terrible unique.
b. A person of this class.
1758Case of Authors Stated 14 He presumes, that he, this Unic, must therefore appear in the same stupendous Magnitude to every body else. 1782Cowper Let. Nov., Wks. (1876) 121 He is a man much to my taste, and quite an unique in this country. 1802E. Parsons Myst. Visit IV. 145, I trust that he though very good, is not an unique. 1813Examiner 22 Feb. 122/2 Those..charms of manner, which constitute an unique. 1866Alger Solit. Nat. & Man ii. 65 The peculiar endowment in which he so far surpasses others as to be an insulated unique.
▸ unique selling point n. Marketing a distinctive feature or characteristic of a particular product, used as a marketing tool to improve sales; also in extended use; abbreviated USP.
1959Yale Law Jrnl. 68 538 The techniques used are the..reiteration of a ‘*unique selling point’,..and the creation of a psychologically satisfying ‘brand image’. 1983Manch. Guardian Weekly (Nexis) 3 Apr. [His] unique selling point was not his undoubted business skill. It was his image. 2004G. Davies Bk. Commissioning & Acquisition ii. 26 When there is established demand..your book has more titles to compete against. Therefore, nail your unique selling point and, at the very least, match the marketing of competitors.
▸ unique selling proposition n. Marketing = unique selling point n. at Additions.
1958R. Reeves in M. Mayer Madison Avenue iii. 49 We can't sell a product..unless it's a good product, and even then we can't sell it unless we can find the *Unique Selling Proposition. 1984Guardian (Nexis) 16 July [Her] unique selling proposition is that she is a female, and who will be the first woman to be nominated for vice-president by either of the big parties. 2004J. O'Shaughnessy & N. J. O'Shaughnessy Persuasion in Advertising i. 21 It does not..determine the message focus (whether on some unique selling proposition, brand image, positioning in the mind, or match between want and offering). |