uniqueadj.n.

Brit.

/juːˈniːk/,

/jᵿˈniːk/, U.S.

/ˌjuˈnik/,

/jᵿˈnik/

Forms: 1600s unick, 1600s vnick, 1600s vnique, 1600s–1700s unic, 1600s– unique; also Scottish 1600s vnicke.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French unique; Latin ūnicus.

Etymology: < (i) Middle French unic (masculine), Middle French, French unique (adjective) alone of its kind, not one of a series (early 15th cent.), constituting a unit, unequalled, unparalleled, (of a child) only, lone, without siblings (all mid 15th cent.), appearing fundamentally different from others of its kind, remarkable, extraordinary (1732), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin ūnicus (adjective) one and only, single, sole, alone of its kind, singular < ūnus one (see one adj.) + -icus -ic suffix. With use as noun compare classical Latin ūnicus only son, ūnica only daughter, French unique only son (c1600, now obsolete in this sense). Compare Catalan únic (1460), Spanish unico (1395 or earlier), Portuguese único (c1539), Italian unico (a1306).The adjective was not fully naturalized until the second half of the 19th cent., and its use was sometimes deprecated; it was entered in H. J. Todd Johnson's Dict. Eng. Lang. (1818) as a foreign word and characterized as ‘an affected and useless term of modern times’. More recent usage guides have criticized looser use of the adjective in sense A. 3a and its submodification: for further discussion see note at the sense.

A. adj.

1. Of which there is only one; single, sole, solitary.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > only one > [adjective]

onlepyeOE

aefauldeOE

onlyOE

soleinc1369

solea1398

halea1400

seul1477

anerlyc1485

alonelya1513

allenarlya1525

singulara1555

fellowlessa1586

unfellowed1597

unique1601

lone1602

unical1605

single1633

solitarya1634

exclusive1790

one-off1934

one-of-a-kind1954

1601 R. Dolman tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. III. 6 Engendring one eternitie, and by an alone vnique action [Fr. d'vne action vnique] neuer disturbed, his linage full of vnderstanding.

1647 J. Howell New Vol. of Lett. 110 He hath lost..his unic Sonne in the very flower of his age.

1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. IV iv. i. ii. 53 Divines, who make..right Reason the unic Criterion or Rule of moral Virtue.

1748 D. Mallet Congratulatory Let. to Selim 54 Every noble and salutary Principle that conduces even to the Security of that Property which is its unique Idol.

1777 in W. Mason Epist. Dr. Shebbeare 7 To this first and unique canto the author prefixed a something in which he exculpated himself from being the author of the Heroic Epistle.

1824 T. F. Dibdin Libr. Compan. 621 (note) My imagination riots (and loves to riot) in the contemplation..of the unique copy of it [sc. a book], on vellum.

1873 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life iii. iii. 87 A man..who made Latin scholarship his unique intellectual purpose.

1953 Bk. Collector II. 4 The unique coloured copy of Blake's Jerusalem..was recently reproduced in facsimile.

1975 P. T. Eden Comm. on Virgil 114 Lautus..here makes its unique appearance not only in Virgil, but in all poetry, epic or lyric, of the high style.

2011 K. Jensen Revol. & Antiquarian Bk. v. 148 The same fate befell the unique copy of another book printed in Bamberg, the volume of Boner's Fables.

†2. Formed or consisting of one or a single thing. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > [adjective] > consisting of one thing

onefolda1500

unique1609

unary1968

1609 J. Donne Lett. (1651) 163 A Mathematique point, which is the most indivisible and unique thing which art can present.

a. That is the only one of its kind; having no like or equal; unparalleled, unrivalled, esp. in excellence. Later also in extended use (especially with premodifying expressions): uncommon, unusual, remarkable.Use in the comparative and superlative and with modification by words such as absolutely, fairly, quite, thoroughly, very, etc., has been criticized on the grounds that an adjective meaning ‘that is the only one of its kind’ should not be not gradable, but in many contexts this meaning is not readily distinguishable from the extended use.

(a) Without modification.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or extraordinary > [adjective] > incomparable, unparalleled, or unique

unilicheOE

makelessc1225

unevenlyc1230

peerlessc1330

alonea1382

uncomparablea1382

unoverpassablea1382

solea1398

incomparable1412

sans-peer1426

nonpareilc1450

invincible1509

matchless1530

inimitable1531

unmatchable1544

unmatched1548

unpassable1563

alonely1567

inequivalent1568

mateless1570

unparagonized1578

only1581

fellowlessa1586

unimitablea1586

compareless1590

incompared1590

immatchless1595

unequalized1596

nonsuch1598

paragonless1599

immatchable1601

unparalleled1601

uncompeered1602

unpeered1602

imparalleled1604

unpeerable1604

unrivalled1607

uncompanioned1608

unexampled1610

unsurmountable1611

unsurpassable1611

unparagoned1612

patternless1613

unpatterned1617

unique1618

unparallelable1621

parallelless1622

unmatchless1623

single1633

unexemplifieda1634

unsampleda1638

unequalled1639

imparallel1641

unparallel1645

unseconded1646

unexemplary1649

unaccessional1651

unequalable1659

uncome-at-able1694

rivalless1735

untouched1735

unexcelleda1800

unexceeded1813

sans-pareilly1818

unsurpassed1818

unrivallable1823

unapproachable1834

untranscendeda1849

insuperable1849

unbrothered1853

unapproached1856

insurpassable1859

untouchable1867

hors concours1884

1618 W. Barclay Nature & Effects Well at King-horne sig. Avij This is a soueraigne and vnicke remedie for that disease in Women.

1659 tr. R. Fludd Mosaicall Philos. v. ii. 89 For in multitude lurketh an infinity of errours, but in unity consisteth that unique verity, which is true wisdom.

1693 T. Urquhart & P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 3rd Bk. Wks. xlvii. 377 Our unique Morosoph,..the Lunatick Triboulet.

1722 J. Richardson Acct. Statues Italy 51 The Bust of Otho with a Peruke, a very short Bob, as short behind as before; very Rare, and perhaps Unique.

1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature I. 3 A concentrated, and an unique aggregation of almost all the wonders of the natural world.

1824 B. Disraeli Let. 19 Aug. (1982) I. 18 Such is a slight sketch of Embs, a most singular, indeed a unique spot.

1885 M. Collins Prettiest Woman in Warsaw I. xi. 173 He believed this woman whom he loved to be unique.

1894 W. Page Certificates Chantries County of York I. p. xvi The unique opportunity which the dissolution of the chantries presented for advancing the cause of education was practically lost.

1919 Sci. Monthly Jan. 87 These rare creatures are unique among cat-fishes in possessing two rows of scales on each side of the body.

1949 R. Wellek & E. A. Warren Theory of Lit. xv. 190 Poetry organizes a unique, unrepeatable pattern of words, each an object as well as a sign.

1977 J. Lee Tales Boatmen Told Pref. p. vi The recollections and the lore of the old-timers have, for the first time, been transcribed and edited to produce an important historical source book. It will be a unique tool for the scholars.

2013 Oxf. Mail (Nexis) 31 Oct. Pauline Thompson was a remarkable and unique woman.

(b) With modifying expression and in the comparative and superlative.

ΚΠ

1740 G. Vertue Descr. Four Anc. Paintings 3 As this Conceit is in some Measure unique, so the whole Appearance of their Apparel, and Richness of their Jewels, Furs, and Habit, bespeaks their Royal Dignity.

1757 A. C. Ducarel Ser. Anglo-Gallic Coins i. p. vii This collection might be said to be almost unique in my hands, since there were but three compleat setts of them extant.

1782 T. Burgess Ess. Study Antiq. (ed. 2) 43 The impression with which he set out, by which the Poem becomes more unique and perfect.

1792 ‘P. Pindar’ More Money! 58 With a manner quite unique.

1794 E. Moor Narr. Operations Capt. Little's Detachm. ix. 135 His Turkish dress, which, with a long venerable beard, gives him an appearance, for an Englishman, very unique.

1808 Eclectic Rev. Oct. 862 [Sir T. More] is a person so unique in the records of statesmen, that we can see no chance that any utility in the way of example, would arise from a display of his life and character.

1809 R. K. Porter Travelling Sketches Russia & Sweden I. xxv. 285 As it was thoroughly unique, I cannot forbear presenting you with so singular a curiosity.

1823 European Mag. & London Rev. July 90/1 The saloon is fitted up in a very unique manner.

1857 Blackwood's Mag. May 557/1 A history as unique and picturesque as ever was annalled in the records of man.

1864 Athenæum 30 Apr. 614/2 Though he may be a unique Englishman, others may be uniquer.

1871 B. Taylor tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust II. ii. i. 105 A thing so totally unique The great collectors would go far to seek.

1885 Harper's Mag. Apr. 703/1 When..these summer guests found themselves defrauded of their uniquest recreations.

1908 K. Grahame Wind in Willows viii. 168 ‘Toad Hall,’ said the Toad proudly, ‘is an eligible self-contained gentleman's residence, very unique.’

1934 G. B. Shaw On the Rocks (new ed.) ii, in Too True to be Good 262 You don't appreciate him. He is absolutely unique.

1977 Marine Corps Gaz. May 28 Of all the military services of the United States, the Marine Corps is the most unique.

2015 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) Mar. 14/1 Spotted nutcrackers are fairly unique, even among seed-caching birds, because they rely on the seeds from just one kind of tree.

b. With to. Distinctively characteristic of, peculiar to.

ΚΠ

1824 Gradus ad Cantabrigiam (new ed.) 2 This is a list of definitions of words which are unique to the University of Cambridge, or have special meanings at Cambridge.

1873 Trans. Essex Archæol. Soc. 5 314 It is unique to this neighbourhood.

1888 Columbia Law Times Oct. 30/2 The idea that a court can declare a law void is one unique to this country.

1900 Fortn. Rev. Feb. 176 England, Germany, and America, as great competing industrial producers, possess nothing which is unique to the one or the other.

1937 H. A. Moore in J. F. Dobie & M. C. Boatright Straight Texas 317 The refrain, ‘Turn, cinnamon, turn’, is also unique to this game in this community.

1958 J. H. Zumberge Elem. Geol. x. 180 The huge tabular icebergs unique to the Antarctic region.

1983 E. T. Hall Dance of Life i. 23 It is culture specific; that is, it is unique to each culture.

2014 Science 25 July 413 (caption) Feathers were not unique to the ancestors of birds and may even have been quite widespread.

4. Designating a distinct individual who visits a particular website or web page within a specified period of time, who is counted only once for the purposes of visitor statistics regardless of the number of visits they make in that time.

ΚΠ

1995 Business Wire (Nexis) 23 Oct. The BYTE Site has received more than 150,000 ‘hits’ from over 55,000 unique visitors.

2006 Wired Nov. 168/2 YTMND.com gets millions of unique visitors a month.

2014 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 3 Apr. Each month, the site draws 130 million unique viewers who click on nearly five billion different images and pages.

B. n.

a. A thing, esp. a coin or medal, of which there is only one example or copy.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > only one > [noun] > a unique thing or example

union1657

unique1714

singularity1814

unicum1885

one-off1947

singleton1966

1714 R. Thoresby Diary 23 June (1830) II. 225 My Lord showed me some unics and other valuable curiosities.

1730 A. Gordon tr. F. S. Maffei Compl. Hist. Anc. Amphitheatres 47 It..may be an Unic [It. ed è unica], for what we know as yet.

1774 Gentleman's Mag. 44 8 A coin, which I have reason to think is a Unic.

1826 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey I. ii. ix. 142 Mr. Vivian Grey had promised his Lordship, who was a collector of medals, an unique, which had never yet been heard of.

1872 O. W. Holmes Poet at Breakfast-table iii. 89 A unique, sir, and there is a pleasure in exclusive possession.

1923 Inland Printer Mar. 870/1 Several [sc. Bibles] are uniques, whose value can not be estimated.

2001 S. King & G. Timmins Making Sense of Industr. Revol. v. 138 He was also prepared to manufacture uniques for overseas dignitaries, most notably a 1282-piece table service for Catherine the Great.

†b. Something or someone (an object, a servant, etc.) of which only one is possessed by a person or persons. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > only one > [noun] > a unique thing or example > thing of which only one is possessed

unique1783

1783 H. Walpole Let. 20 June in Corr. (1965) XXXIII. 404 Lady Pembroke having lent them a servant besides their own unique.

1806 T. S. Surr Winter in London III. v. 170 This Belcher girdle was not old; but being an unique, it had been..constantly in use.

2. A person or thing without equal or parallel, esp. in excellence.

a. A person.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or extraordinary > [noun] > fact of being unparalleled or unique > that which is unique > a unique thing or person > person

sans-peer1426

nonsicut1621

non-parallel1631

nonsuch1646

no (none) such1647

ne plus ultra1672

unique1728

1728 Def. Observ. Assiento Trade 65 But having..fully satisfied myself of our Author's great Talent this Way..I no longer doubted it must be He; 'tis a Unique, and there can be no other.

1758 Case of Authors Stated 14 He presumes, that he, this Unic, must therefore appear in the same stupendous Magnitude to every body else.

1782 W. Cowper Lett. (1981) II. 85 He is a man much to my taste, and quite an Unique in this country.

1802 E. Parsons Myst. Visit IV. 145 I trust that he though very good, is not an unique.

1866 W. R. Alger Solitudes Nature & Man ii. 65 The peculiar endowment in which he so far surpasses others as to be an insulated unique.

1918 W. D. Lyman Hist. Old Walla Walla County I. 259 As soon as we name Charles Besserer old-timers will at once recognize the fact that we have arrived at the uniquest of the uniques.

1981 Soho News 18 Feb. 10/3 A country that has spawned such self-invented uniques as Melville and Henry James.

2012 P. McFarland Mark Twain & Colonel xlviii. 427 These two uniques [sc. Twain & Roosevelt], these mighties of our politics and our culture.

b. A thing, fact, or circumstance. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

nonpareilc1500

transcendent1591

Arabian birda1616

imparallel1658

original1675

incomparable1704

unique1769

sui generis1787

oner1841

unicum1885

the only pebble on the beach1896

1769 Philos. Trans. 1768 (Royal Soc.) 58 215 When I presented this map to the Academy..it was looked upon as an Unique.

1781 Gentleman's Mag. 51 280/2 The dedication [of a volume of Sermons] being an unique in its kind.

1795 W. Paley View Evidences Christianity (ed. 3) II. ii. ix. 287 The propagation of Christianity..is an unique in the history of the species.

1835 Tait's Edinb. Mag. New Ser. 2 651 It is..an unique in English biography.

1844 N. Brit. Rev. 1 124 A conflict, that stands out from all shadow of parallelism—a wild originality—a terrible unique.

1848 T. De Quincey Final Memorials C. Lamb in N. Brit. Rev. Nov. 211 Of Lamb's writings..some were so memorably beautiful as to be uniques in their class.

1953 ‘J. Wyndham ’ Kraken Wakes iii. 266 There aren't places like this. This is—was—one of the uniques. That's the trouble.

3. With the. That which is unique; unique quality, uniqueness. Also (with plural agreement): unique people as a class.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or extraordinary > [noun] > fact of being unparalleled or unique > that which is unique

nonsuch1589

unique1769

1769 Philos. Trans. 1768 (Royal Soc.) 58 26 All these are examples of the unique; that is, of quantities in a state that is..exclusive of all others.

1841 Graham's Mag. Apr. 199/1 The high ideal sense of the unique is sure to be wanting.

1849 C. Brontë Shirley II. xii. 282 She felt that Rose Yorke was a peculiar child,—one of the unique.

1884 Jrnl. Speculative Philos. Oct. 408 The unique is not an idea. Ideas are always universals, and dealing with them we never touch ground.

1934 O. Wyon tr. E. Brunner Mediator xi. 303 In nature anything that is unique can safely be ignored; it is non-essential. In history this relation is reversed. Here the unique is the really constitutive element.

2011 P. K. Dick Exegesis 694 How does the particular, the unique, the imperfect, the local, become the abstract, the eidos, the universal?

4. A unique visitor to a website or web page: see sense A. 4.

ΚΠ

2000 Business Wire (Nexis) 19 June ‘Monthly uniques’ is a traditional measure of success for many online companies.

2007 Hollywood Reporter (Nexis) 2 Apr. People.com was second with 4.3 million uniques, up 93% from the same period a year ago.

2011 N.Y. Times Mag. 8 May 35/1 An impressive achievement whose relatively few visitors (just under four million uniques per month) belie its cultural influence.

Compounds

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.

ΚΠ

1958 Pacific Stars & Stripes 15 July 11/1 A unique selling point: The group consists of two Americans..and two Japanese.

1983 Manch. Guardian Weekly (Nexis) 3 Apr. [His] unique selling point was not his undoubted business skill. It was his image.

2004 G. 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.

ΚΠ

1908 Boot & Shoe Recorder 8 July 87/3 (advt.) It is expected that every one who sells Educators [sc. a make of shoe] will do his best to make Educator Week in his section a result-producing, and unique selling proposition.

1958 R. 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.

2004 J. 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).

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	unique
释义	uniqueadj.n. Brit. /juːˈniːk/, /jᵿˈniːk/, U.S. /ˌjuˈnik/, /jᵿˈnik/ Forms: 1600s unick, 1600s vnick, 1600s vnique, 1600s–1700s unic, 1600s– unique; also Scottish 1600s vnicke. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French unique; Latin ūnicus. Etymology: < (i) Middle French unic (masculine), Middle French, French unique (adjective) alone of its kind, not one of a series (early 15th cent.), constituting a unit, unequalled, unparalleled, (of a child) only, lone, without siblings (all mid 15th cent.), appearing fundamentally different from others of its kind, remarkable, extraordinary (1732), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin ūnicus (adjective) one and only, single, sole, alone of its kind, singular < ūnus one (see one adj.) + -icus -ic suffix. With use as noun compare classical Latin ūnicus only son, ūnica only daughter, French unique only son (c1600, now obsolete in this sense). Compare Catalan únic (1460), Spanish unico (1395 or earlier), Portuguese único (c1539), Italian unico (a1306).The adjective was not fully naturalized until the second half of the 19th cent., and its use was sometimes deprecated; it was entered in H. J. Todd Johnson's Dict. Eng. Lang. (1818) as a foreign word and characterized as ‘an affected and useless term of modern times’. More recent usage guides have criticized looser use of the adjective in sense A. 3a and its submodification: for further discussion see note at the sense. A. adj. 1. Of which there is only one; single, sole, solitary. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > only one > [adjective] onlepyeOE aefauldeOE onlyOE soleinc1369 solea1398 halea1400 seul1477 anerlyc1485 alonelya1513 allenarlya1525 singulara1555 fellowlessa1586 unfellowed1597 unique1601 lone1602 unical1605 single1633 solitarya1634 exclusive1790 one-off1934 one-of-a-kind1954 1601 R. Dolman tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. III. 6 Engendring one eternitie, and by an alone vnique action [Fr. d'vne action vnique] neuer disturbed, his linage full of vnderstanding. 1647 J. Howell New Vol. of Lett. 110 He hath lost..his unic Sonne in the very flower of his age. 1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. IV iv. i. ii. 53 Divines, who make..right Reason the unic Criterion or Rule of moral Virtue. 1748 D. Mallet Congratulatory Let. to Selim 54 Every noble and salutary Principle that conduces even to the Security of that Property which is its unique Idol. 1777 in W. Mason Epist. Dr. Shebbeare 7 To this first and unique canto the author prefixed a something in which he exculpated himself from being the author of the Heroic Epistle. 1824 T. F. Dibdin Libr. Compan. 621 (note) My imagination riots (and loves to riot) in the contemplation..of the unique copy of it [sc. a book], on vellum. 1873 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life iii. iii. 87 A man..who made Latin scholarship his unique intellectual purpose. 1953 Bk. Collector II. 4 The unique coloured copy of Blake's Jerusalem..was recently reproduced in facsimile. 1975 P. T. Eden Comm. on Virgil 114 Lautus..here makes its unique appearance not only in Virgil, but in all poetry, epic or lyric, of the high style. 2011 K. Jensen Revol. & Antiquarian Bk. v. 148 The same fate befell the unique copy of another book printed in Bamberg, the volume of Boner's Fables. †2. Formed or consisting of one or a single thing. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > [adjective] > consisting of one thing onefolda1500 unique1609 unary1968 1609 J. Donne Lett. (1651) 163 A Mathematique point, which is the most indivisible and unique thing which art can present. 3. a. That is the only one of its kind; having no like or equal; unparalleled, unrivalled, esp. in excellence. Later also in extended use (especially with premodifying expressions): uncommon, unusual, remarkable.Use in the comparative and superlative and with modification by words such as absolutely, fairly, quite, thoroughly, very, etc., has been criticized on the grounds that an adjective meaning ‘that is the only one of its kind’ should not be not gradable, but in many contexts this meaning is not readily distinguishable from the extended use. (a) Without modification. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or extraordinary > [adjective] > incomparable, unparalleled, or unique unilicheOE makelessc1225 unevenlyc1230 peerlessc1330 alonea1382 uncomparablea1382 unoverpassablea1382 solea1398 incomparable1412 sans-peer1426 nonpareilc1450 invincible1509 matchless1530 inimitable1531 unmatchable1544 unmatched1548 unpassable1563 alonely1567 inequivalent1568 mateless1570 unparagonized1578 only1581 fellowlessa1586 unimitablea1586 compareless1590 incompared1590 immatchless1595 unequalized1596 nonsuch1598 paragonless1599 immatchable1601 unparalleled1601 uncompeered1602 unpeered1602 imparalleled1604 unpeerable1604 unrivalled1607 uncompanioned1608 unexampled1610 unsurmountable1611 unsurpassable1611 unparagoned1612 patternless1613 unpatterned1617 unique1618 unparallelable1621 parallelless1622 unmatchless1623 single1633 unexemplifieda1634 unsampleda1638 unequalled1639 imparallel1641 unparallel1645 unseconded1646 unexemplary1649 unaccessional1651 unequalable1659 uncome-at-able1694 rivalless1735 untouched1735 unexcelleda1800 unexceeded1813 sans-pareilly1818 unsurpassed1818 unrivallable1823 unapproachable1834 untranscendeda1849 insuperable1849 unbrothered1853 unapproached1856 insurpassable1859 untouchable1867 hors concours1884 1618 W. Barclay Nature & Effects Well at King-horne sig. Avij This is a soueraigne and vnicke remedie for that disease in Women. 1659 tr. R. Fludd Mosaicall Philos. v. ii. 89 For in multitude lurketh an infinity of errours, but in unity consisteth that unique verity, which is true wisdom. 1693 T. Urquhart & P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 3rd Bk. Wks. xlvii. 377 Our unique Morosoph,..the Lunatick Triboulet. 1722 J. Richardson Acct. Statues Italy 51 The Bust of Otho with a Peruke, a very short Bob, as short behind as before; very Rare, and perhaps Unique. 1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature I. 3 A concentrated, and an unique aggregation of almost all the wonders of the natural world. 1824 B. Disraeli Let. 19 Aug. (1982) I. 18 Such is a slight sketch of Embs, a most singular, indeed a unique spot. 1885 M. Collins Prettiest Woman in Warsaw I. xi. 173 He believed this woman whom he loved to be unique. 1894 W. Page Certificates Chantries County of York I. p. xvi The unique opportunity which the dissolution of the chantries presented for advancing the cause of education was practically lost. 1919 Sci. Monthly Jan. 87 These rare creatures are unique among cat-fishes in possessing two rows of scales on each side of the body. 1949 R. Wellek & E. A. Warren Theory of Lit. xv. 190 Poetry organizes a unique, unrepeatable pattern of words, each an object as well as a sign. 1977 J. Lee Tales Boatmen Told Pref. p. vi The recollections and the lore of the old-timers have, for the first time, been transcribed and edited to produce an important historical source book. It will be a unique tool for the scholars. 2013 Oxf. Mail (Nexis) 31 Oct. Pauline Thompson was a remarkable and unique woman. (b) With modifying expression and in the comparative and superlative. ΚΠ 1740 G. Vertue Descr. Four Anc. Paintings 3 As this Conceit is in some Measure unique, so the whole Appearance of their Apparel, and Richness of their Jewels, Furs, and Habit, bespeaks their Royal Dignity. 1757 A. C. Ducarel Ser. Anglo-Gallic Coins i. p. vii This collection might be said to be almost unique in my hands, since there were but three compleat setts of them extant. 1782 T. Burgess Ess. Study Antiq. (ed. 2) 43 The impression with which he set out, by which the Poem becomes more unique and perfect. 1792 ‘P. Pindar’ More Money! 58 With a manner quite unique. 1794 E. Moor Narr. Operations Capt. Little's Detachm. ix. 135 His Turkish dress, which, with a long venerable beard, gives him an appearance, for an Englishman, very unique. 1808 Eclectic Rev. Oct. 862 [Sir T. More] is a person so unique in the records of statesmen, that we can see no chance that any utility in the way of example, would arise from a display of his life and character. 1809 R. K. Porter Travelling Sketches Russia & Sweden I. xxv. 285 As it was thoroughly unique, I cannot forbear presenting you with so singular a curiosity. 1823 European Mag. & London Rev. July 90/1 The saloon is fitted up in a very unique manner. 1857 Blackwood's Mag. May 557/1 A history as unique and picturesque as ever was annalled in the records of man. 1864 Athenæum 30 Apr. 614/2 Though he may be a unique Englishman, others may be uniquer. 1871 B. Taylor tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust II. ii. i. 105 A thing so totally unique The great collectors would go far to seek. 1885 Harper's Mag. Apr. 703/1 When..these summer guests found themselves defrauded of their uniquest recreations. 1908 K. Grahame Wind in Willows viii. 168 ‘Toad Hall,’ said the Toad proudly, ‘is an eligible self-contained gentleman's residence, very unique.’ 1934 G. B. Shaw On the Rocks (new ed.) ii, in Too True to be Good 262 You don't appreciate him. He is absolutely unique. 1977 Marine Corps Gaz. May 28 Of all the military services of the United States, the Marine Corps is the most unique. 2015 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) Mar. 14/1 Spotted nutcrackers are fairly unique, even among seed-caching birds, because they rely on the seeds from just one kind of tree. b. With to. Distinctively characteristic of, peculiar to. ΚΠ 1824 Gradus ad Cantabrigiam (new ed.) 2 This is a list of definitions of words which are unique to the University of Cambridge, or have special meanings at Cambridge. 1873 Trans. Essex Archæol. Soc. 5 314 It is unique to this neighbourhood. 1888 Columbia Law Times Oct. 30/2 The idea that a court can declare a law void is one unique to this country. 1900 Fortn. Rev. Feb. 176 England, Germany, and America, as great competing industrial producers, possess nothing which is unique to the one or the other. 1937 H. A. Moore in J. F. Dobie & M. C. Boatright Straight Texas 317 The refrain, ‘Turn, cinnamon, turn’, is also unique to this game in this community. 1958 J. H. Zumberge Elem. Geol. x. 180 The huge tabular icebergs unique to the Antarctic region. 1983 E. T. Hall Dance of Life i. 23 It is culture specific; that is, it is unique to each culture. 2014 Science 25 July 413 (caption) Feathers were not unique to the ancestors of birds and may even have been quite widespread. 4. Designating a distinct individual who visits a particular website or web page within a specified period of time, who is counted only once for the purposes of visitor statistics regardless of the number of visits they make in that time. ΚΠ 1995 Business Wire (Nexis) 23 Oct. The BYTE Site has received more than 150,000 ‘hits’ from over 55,000 unique visitors. 2006 Wired Nov. 168/2 YTMND.com gets millions of unique visitors a month. 2014 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 3 Apr. Each month, the site draws 130 million unique viewers who click on nearly five billion different images and pages. B. n. 1. a. A thing, esp. a coin or medal, of which there is only one example or copy. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > only one > [noun] > a unique thing or example union1657 unique1714 singularity1814 unicum1885 one-off1947 singleton1966 1714 R. Thoresby Diary 23 June (1830) II. 225 My Lord showed me some unics and other valuable curiosities. 1730 A. Gordon tr. F. S. Maffei Compl. Hist. Anc. Amphitheatres 47 It..may be an Unic [It. ed è unica], for what we know as yet. 1774 Gentleman's Mag. 44 8 A coin, which I have reason to think is a Unic. 1826 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey I. ii. ix. 142 Mr. Vivian Grey had promised his Lordship, who was a collector of medals, an unique, which had never yet been heard of. 1872 O. W. Holmes Poet at Breakfast-table iii. 89 A unique, sir, and there is a pleasure in exclusive possession. 1923 Inland Printer Mar. 870/1 Several [sc. Bibles] are uniques, whose value can not be estimated. 2001 S. King & G. Timmins Making Sense of Industr. Revol. v. 138 He was also prepared to manufacture uniques for overseas dignitaries, most notably a 1282-piece table service for Catherine the Great. †b. Something or someone (an object, a servant, etc.) of which only one is possessed by a person or persons. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > only one > [noun] > a unique thing or example > thing of which only one is possessed unique1783 1783 H. Walpole Let. 20 June in Corr. (1965) XXXIII. 404 Lady Pembroke having lent them a servant besides their own unique. 1806 T. S. Surr Winter in London III. v. 170 This Belcher girdle was not old; but being an unique, it had been..constantly in use. 2. A person or thing without equal or parallel, esp. in excellence. a. A person. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or extraordinary > [noun] > fact of being unparalleled or unique > that which is unique > a unique thing or person > person sans-peer1426 nonsicut1621 non-parallel1631 nonsuch1646 no (none) such1647 ne plus ultra1672 unique1728 1728 Def. Observ. Assiento Trade 65 But having..fully satisfied myself of our Author's great Talent this Way..I no longer doubted it must be He; 'tis a Unique, and there can be no other. 1758 Case of Authors Stated 14 He presumes, that he, this Unic, must therefore appear in the same stupendous Magnitude to every body else. 1782 W. Cowper Lett. (1981) II. 85 He is a man much to my taste, and quite an Unique in this country. 1802 E. Parsons Myst. Visit IV. 145 I trust that he though very good, is not an unique. 1866 W. R. Alger Solitudes Nature & Man ii. 65 The peculiar endowment in which he so far surpasses others as to be an insulated unique. 1918 W. D. Lyman Hist. Old Walla Walla County I. 259 As soon as we name Charles Besserer old-timers will at once recognize the fact that we have arrived at the uniquest of the uniques. 1981 Soho News 18 Feb. 10/3 A country that has spawned such self-invented uniques as Melville and Henry James. 2012 P. McFarland Mark Twain & Colonel xlviii. 427 These two uniques [sc. Twain & Roosevelt], these mighties of our politics and our culture. b. A thing, fact, or circumstance. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or extraordinary > [noun] > fact of being unparalleled or unique > that which is unique > a unique thing or person nonpareilc1500 transcendent1591 Arabian birda1616 imparallel1658 original1675 incomparable1704 unique1769 sui generis1787 oner1841 unicum1885 the only pebble on the beach1896 1769 Philos. Trans. 1768 (Royal Soc.) 58 215 When I presented this map to the Academy..it was looked upon as an Unique. 1781 Gentleman's Mag. 51 280/2 The dedication [of a volume of Sermons] being an unique in its kind. 1795 W. Paley View Evidences Christianity (ed. 3) II. ii. ix. 287 The propagation of Christianity..is an unique in the history of the species. 1835 Tait's Edinb. Mag. New Ser. 2 651 It is..an unique in English biography. 1844 N. Brit. Rev. 1 124 A conflict, that stands out from all shadow of parallelism—a wild originality—a terrible unique. 1848 T. De Quincey Final Memorials C. Lamb in N. Brit. Rev. Nov. 211 Of Lamb's writings..some were so memorably beautiful as to be uniques in their class. 1953 ‘J. Wyndham ’ Kraken Wakes iii. 266 There aren't places like this. This is—was—one of the uniques. That's the trouble. 3. With the. That which is unique; unique quality, uniqueness. Also (with plural agreement): unique people as a class. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or extraordinary > [noun] > fact of being unparalleled or unique > that which is unique nonsuch1589 unique1769 1769 Philos. Trans. 1768 (Royal Soc.) 58 26 All these are examples of the unique; that is, of quantities in a state that is..exclusive of all others. 1841 Graham's Mag. Apr. 199/1 The high ideal sense of the unique is sure to be wanting. 1849 C. Brontë Shirley II. xii. 282 She felt that Rose Yorke was a peculiar child,—one of the unique. 1884 Jrnl. Speculative Philos. Oct. 408 The unique is not an idea. Ideas are always universals, and dealing with them we never touch ground. 1934 O. Wyon tr. E. Brunner Mediator xi. 303 In nature anything that is unique can safely be ignored; it is non-essential. In history this relation is reversed. Here the unique is the really constitutive element. 2011 P. K. Dick Exegesis 694 How does the particular, the unique, the imperfect, the local, become the abstract, the eidos, the universal? 4. A unique visitor to a website or web page: see sense A. 4. ΚΠ 2000 Business Wire (Nexis) 19 June ‘Monthly uniques’ is a traditional measure of success for many online companies. 2007 Hollywood Reporter (Nexis) 2 Apr. People.com was second with 4.3 million uniques, up 93% from the same period a year ago. 2011 N.Y. Times Mag. 8 May 35/1 An impressive achievement whose relatively few visitors (just under four million uniques per month) belie its cultural influence. Compounds 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. ΚΠ 1958 Pacific Stars & Stripes 15 July 11/1 A unique selling point: The group consists of two Americans..and two Japanese. 1983 Manch. Guardian Weekly (Nexis) 3 Apr. [His] unique selling point was not his undoubted business skill. It was his image. 2004 G. 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. ΚΠ 1908 Boot & Shoe Recorder 8 July 87/3 (advt.) It is expected that every one who sells Educators [sc. a make of shoe] will do his best to make Educator Week in his section a result-producing, and unique selling proposition. 1958 R. 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. 2004 J. 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). This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.n.1601
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