Meanings
plural individuals · alternative obsolete individuall
- A person considered alone, rather than as belonging to a group of people.
He is an unusual individual.
1 more example
“You have to be an individual,” said Ms. Smoke, a 40-year-old saleswoman, as she sipped her beverage. “You can’t just get black coffee.”
2024 September 16, Priya Krishna, “The Customized Drink Is Out of Control”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Sep 2024 - lawA single physical human being as a legal subject, as opposed to a legal person such as a corporation.
Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination […].
1982, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - An object, be it a thing or an agent, as contrasted to a class.
It is typically held that chairs, trees, rocks, people and many of the so-called ‘everyday’ objects we encounter can be regarded as individuals.
2006, Steven French, “Identity and Individuality in Quantum Theory”, in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy1 more example
In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.
2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3 - mathematicsAn element belonging to a population.
comparative more individual · superlative most individual · alternative obsolete individuall
- Relating to a single person or thing as opposed to more than one.
Near-synonyms: individuated, solitary, self-standing, freestanding
2 more examples
As we can't print them all together, the individual pages will have to be printed one by one.
Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.
2013 June 1, “End of the peer show”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 71Synonyms: single, individuated, solitary, self-standing, freestanding · Antonyms: collective
- Not divisible without losing its identity.
Near-synonyms: unatomizable, indivisible, undividable
Synonyms: unatomizable, indivisible, undividable
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveRelating to a single person or thing as opposed to more than one.
adjectiveIntended for a single person as opposed to more than one person.
adjectiveNot divisible without losing its identity.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivebeing or characteristic of a single thing or person
nouna human being; person, singular, assertive existential pronoun; pronoun, person, singular; quantifier: assertive existential
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinindīviduum“an indivisible thing”
- Medieval Latinindīviduālis
- Englishindividual
PIE word *dwóh₁ From Medieval Latin indīviduālis, from Latin indīviduum (“an indivisible thing”), neuter of indīviduus (“indivisible, undivided”), from in + dīviduus (“divisible”), from dīvidō (“divide”). Displaced native Old English hād (“person, individual”).
More words from Medieval Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans individu, individu
- individuperson considered alone
- individusingle human as legal subject
Arabic فَرْد, شَخْص
- فَرْد (fard)person considered alone
- شَخْص (šaḵṣ)person considered alone
Bengali ব্যক্তি, শখ্স
- ব্যক্তি (bêkti)person considered alone
- শখ্স (śokhs)person considered alone
Bulgarian индиви́д, ли́чност
- индиви́д (indivíd)person considered alone
- ли́чност (líčnost)single human as legal subject
- отделен (otdelen)relating to a single person or thing
- индивидуален (individualen)relating to a single person or thing
- личен (ličen)intended for a single person
Catalan individu, individual
- individuperson considered alone
- individualrelating to a single person or thing
- individualintended for a single person
Chinese Cantonese 個體 /个体, 個人 /个人
- 個體 /个体 (go³ tai²)person considered alone
- 個人 /个人 (go³ jan⁴)person considered alone
- 私人 (si¹ jan⁴)person considered alone
Chinese Mandarin 個體 /个体, 個人 /个人
- 個體 /个体 (gètǐ)person considered alone
- 個人 /个人 (gèrén)person considered alone
- 私人 (sīrén)person considered alone
- 單個 /单个 (dāngè)relating to a single person or thing
- 獨個 /独个 (dúgè)relating to a single person or thing
- 個別 /个别 (gèbié)intended for a single person
Czech jedinec, jednotlivec
- jedinecperson considered alone
- jednotlivecperson considered alone
- jednotlivýrelating to a single person or thing
- individuálníintended for a single person
Danish individ, individuel
- individperson considered alone
- individuelrelating to a single person or thing
Dutch enkeling, individu
- enkelingperson considered alone
- individuperson considered alone
- individueelrelating to a single person or thing
- individueelintended for a single person
Esperanto unuopulo
- unuopuloperson considered alone
Estonian indiviid
- indiviidperson considered alone
Finnish yksilö, henkilö
- yksilöperson considered alone
- henkilösingle human as legal subject
- luonnollinen henkilösingle human as legal subject
- yksilöindividual object as contrasted to a class
- yksittäinenrelating to a single person or thing
- yksilöllinenintended for a single person
French individu, individu
- individuperson considered alone
- individuelement belonging to a population
- individuelrelating to a single person or thing
German Individuum, einzeln
- Individuumperson considered alone
- einzelnrelating to a single person or thing
- individuellrelating to a single person or thing
- Einzel-relating to a single person or thing
- individuellintended for a single person
Greek άτομο
- άτομο (átomo)person considered alone
Hebrew פְּרָט
- פְּרָט (prat)person considered alone
Hindi व्यक्ति, फ़र्द
- व्यक्ति (vyakti)person considered alone
- फ़र्द (fard)person considered alone
- शख़्स (śaxs)person considered alone
Hungarian individuum, egyén
- individuumperson considered alone
- egyénperson considered alone
- magánszemélysingle human as legal subject
- magánembersingle human as legal subject
- egyedindividual object as contrasted to a class
- egyedelement belonging to a population
- egyesrelating to a single person or thing
- egyedirelating to a single person or thing
- különállórelating to a single person or thing
- egyéniintended for a single person
Icelandic einstaklingur
- einstaklingurperson considered alone
Italian individuo, soggetto
- individuoperson considered alone
- soggettoperson considered alone
- individuoelement belonging to a population
- singolorelating to a single person or thing
- specificorelating to a single person or thing
- individualeintended for a single person
- personaleintended for a single person
Japanese 個人, 個体
- 個人 (kojin)person considered alone
- 個体 (kotai)person considered alone
- 私人 (shijin)person considered alone
- 個人 (kojin)single human as legal subject
- 個々の (koko-no)relating to a single person or thing
Korean 개인, 개체
- 개인 (gaein)person considered alone
- 개체 (gaeche)person considered alone
- 사인 (sain)person considered alone
- 개인 (gaein)single human as legal subject
Latin indīviduum, specialis
- indīviduumperson considered alone
- specialisindividual object as contrasted to a class
- indīviduālisrelating to a single person or thing
- propriusintended for a single person
Latvian indivīds
- indivīdsperson considered alone
Lithuanian individas
- individasperson considered alone
Malay individu
- individuperson considered alone
Māori tangata, kiritahi
- tangataperson considered alone
- kiritahiperson considered alone
- kiritahisingle human as legal subject
- takitahirelating to a single person or thing
Norwegian Bokmål individ, enkeltperson
- individperson considered alone
- enkeltpersonperson considered alone
- menneskeperson considered alone
- enkeltpersonsingle human as legal subject
- individindividual object as contrasted to a class
- enkeltrelating to a single person or thing
- individuellrelating to a single person or thing
- individuellintended for a single person
Polish indywiduum, jednostka
- indywiduumperson considered alone
- jednostkaperson considered alone
- osoba fizycznasingle human as legal subject
- indywidualnyindividual object as contrasted to a class
- osobnikindividual object as contrasted to a class
- indywidualnyrelating to a single person or thing
- oddzielnyrelating to a single person or thing
- pojedynczyrelating to a single person or thing
- indywidualnyintended for a single person
Portuguese indivíduo, indivíduo
- indivíduoperson considered alone
- indivíduoindividual object as contrasted to a class
- indivíduoelement belonging to a population
- individualrelating to a single person or thing
- individualintended for a single person
Romanian individ, individual
- individperson considered alone
- individualrelating to a single person or thing
- individualintended for a single person
Russian индиви́дуум, лицо́
- индиви́дуум (indivíduum)person considered alone
- лицо́ (licó)person considered alone
- ли́чность (líčnostʹ)person considered alone
- осо́ба (osóba)person considered alone
- индиви́д (indivíd)person considered alone
- персо́на (persóna)person considered alone
- о́собь (ósobʹ)person considered alone
- физи́ческое лицо́ (fizíčeskoje licó)single human as legal subject
- отде́льный (otdélʹnyj)relating to a single person or thing
- индивидуа́льный (individuálʹnyj)relating to a single person or thing
- едини́чный (jediníčnyj)relating to a single person or thing
- ча́стный (částnyj)relating to a single person or thing
- индивидуа́льный (individuálʹnyj)intended for a single person
- персона́льный (personálʹnyj)intended for a single person
- ли́чный (líčnyj)intended for a single person
- ча́стный (částnyj)intended for a single person
Scottish Gaelic air leth, air leth
- air lethrelating to a single person or thing
- air lethintended for a single person
Slovak jedinec, jednotlivec
- jedinecperson considered alone
- jednotlivecperson considered alone
Spanish individuo, individuo
- individuoperson considered alone
- individuoelement belonging to a population
- individualrelating to a single person or thing
- individualintended for a single person
- propio, personalintended for a single person
- personalintended for a single person
Swedish individ, enskild
- individperson considered alone
- enskildperson considered alone
- enskildrelating to a single person or thing
- individuellintended for a single person
Thai บุคคล, เฉพาะตัว
- บุคคล (bùk-kon)person considered alone
- เฉพาะตัวintended for a single person
Turkish birey, şahıs
- bireyperson considered alone
- şahısperson considered alone
- fertperson considered alone
- bireyselrelating to a single person or thing
Ukrainian індиві́д, індиві́дуум
- індиві́д (indyvíd)person considered alone
- індиві́дуум (indyvíduum)person considered alone
- особи́стий (osobýstyj)relating to a single person or thing
- індивідуа́льний (indyviduálʹnyj)relating to a single person or thing
- осі́бний (osíbnyj)relating to a single person or thing
- окре́мий (okrémyj)relating to a single person or thing
Urdu فَرْد, شَخْص
- فَرْد (fard)person considered alone
- شَخْص (śaxs)person considered alone
Vietnamese cá nhân, cá thể
- cá nhânperson considered alone
- cá thểperson considered alone
Welsh unigolyn
- unigolynperson considered alone
Cite this entry
individual. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/individual
“individual.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/individual. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “individual,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/individual.
Source: individual on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.