Definition of unicum in English:
unicum
nounPlural unica ˈjuːnɪkəmˈyo͞onəkəm
rare A unique example or specimen.
the castle is not a unicum, it fits into the California tourist landscape with perfect coherence
Example sentencesExamples
- The essays in this and the next issue of Currents are the opportunity for many to give witness and testimony back to him and out to you about this unicum, this unprecedented man and his life and ministry.
- Thus, by virtue of this transgressive unicum, an example without a prior exemplar to which it must conform, Levi-narrator becomes an unicus, neither mere witness nor mere litterateur.
- The unicus / unicum shares the possible/impossible structure of the secret and the sublime.
- That is, Levi's Auschwitz as unicum embodies the aporia of an example that can never be exemplary, because it cannot be subsumed into its exemplar.
- They preserve many unica, especially the instrumental ensemble pieces in Eg.3665, and contain all his published music up to and including 16,12.
Origin
Late 19th century: from Latin, neuter of unicus 'unique'.