释义 |
singulary, a. Logic.|ˈsɪŋgjʊlərɪ| [f. L. singulāris singular a.: see -ary2.] Involving just one element.
1940W. V. Quine Math. Logic i. 13 Conjunction and alternation are binary, in that they combine statements two at a time. But denial..is singulary. [Note] The series of adjectives ‘binary’, ‘ternary’, ‘quaternary’, ‘quinary’,..leaves mathematicians in a quandary when n = 1. It is customary to stammer out some such makeshift as ‘unary’ or ‘uninary’ or ‘unitary’. But the proper word is apparent if we reflect that the series of Latin distributives ‘bini’, ‘terni’, ‘quaterni’, ‘quini’,..begins with ‘singuli’. 1954Word X. 227 There are singulary operations, but no singulary relations... An example of a singulary operation in mathematics is ‘reciprocal of’. 1965N. Chomsky Aspects of Theory of Syntax iii. 132 Many of the optional singulary transformations of Chomsky..must be reformulated as obligatory transformations. |