univocal
adjective
univ·o·cal yü-ˈni-və-kəl 
1
: having one meaning only
2
: unambiguous
in search of a morally univocal answer
univocally
yü-ˈni-və-k(ə-)lē
adverb 
Did you know?
The History of Univocal
In Latin, the prefix uni- ("one") united with vox ("voice"), creating univocus, the source of English's univocal.
Synonyms
- clear-cut
- definite
- definitive
- explicit
- express
- specific
- unambiguous
- unequivocal
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
those who believe that the language of the Bible is univocal: it is never metaphorical but intended to be taken literally
Recent Examples on the Web Yet, as with almost everything Shostakovich wrote, the score defeats a univocal interpretation, its classical four-movement structure interlaced with political, personal, and purely musical messages. 
Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2022 Who Lived Her Songs—Cash greatly complicates the popcult caricature of country music as a univocal genre of jingoist belligerence and boosterism, as exemplified by Toby Keith, Daryl Worley, Hank Williams Jr., and the late-career Charlie Daniels. Chris Lehmann, The New Republic, 7 Dec. 2021 To be sure, a great deal of Irish verse during the 1910s and 1920s, univocal ‘in the intensity and wrath of [its] invective,’ lacked the rhetorical nuance of Yeats’ Modernism. Matthew Carey Salyer, Forbes, 20 May 2021 According to the Morgans, the House of Commons allowed no American petition to be read into the record and debated, on the grounds of a univocal recoil, by the Commons, from the Americans’ assertion of the right of representation. William Hogeland, The New Republic, 25 Jan. 2021 The book contends that the Commons was univocal in shutting down any consideration of the petitions. William Hogeland, The New Republic, 25 Jan. 2021 The univocal gasp of my students still haunts my nightmares. Jeannie Suk Gersen, The New Yorker, 23 Apr. 2020 See More
Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2022 Who Lived Her Songs—Cash greatly complicates the popcult caricature of country music as a univocal genre of jingoist belligerence and boosterism, as exemplified by Toby Keith, Daryl Worley, Hank Williams Jr., and the late-career Charlie Daniels. Chris Lehmann, The New Republic, 7 Dec. 2021 To be sure, a great deal of Irish verse during the 1910s and 1920s, univocal ‘in the intensity and wrath of [its] invective,’ lacked the rhetorical nuance of Yeats’ Modernism. Matthew Carey Salyer, Forbes, 20 May 2021 According to the Morgans, the House of Commons allowed no American petition to be read into the record and debated, on the grounds of a univocal recoil, by the Commons, from the Americans’ assertion of the right of representation. William Hogeland, The New Republic, 25 Jan. 2021 The book contends that the Commons was univocal in shutting down any consideration of the petitions. William Hogeland, The New Republic, 25 Jan. 2021 The univocal gasp of my students still haunts my nightmares. Jeannie Suk Gersen, The New Yorker, 23 Apr. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
Late Latin univocus, from Latin uni- + voc-, vox voice — more at voice
First Known Use
1599, in the meaning defined at sense 1
univocal
adjective
as in explicit
so clearly expressed as to leave no doubt about the meaning those who believe that the language of the Bible is univocal: it is never metaphorical but intended to be taken literally Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- explicit
- definite
- express
- definitive
- unambiguous
- specific
- unequivocal
- literal
- unmistakable
- comprehensive
- clear-cut
- categorical
- comprehensible
- precise
- intelligible
- specified
- clear
- simple
- complete
- stated
- categoric
- distinct
- exhaustive
- lucid
- avowed
- full
- declared
- straightforward
- understandable
- certain
- well-defined
- exact
- direct
- plain
- sure
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- implicit
- inferred
- ambiguous
- implied
- cryptic
- unclear
- enigmatic
- dark
- obscure
- equivocal
- enigmatical
- inexact
- circuitous
- vague
- imprecise
- indefinite
- inaccurate
- incorrect
- unintelligible
- incomprehensible
- unspecific
- inexplicit