Meanings
- not comparablegrammarOf or pertaining to a grammatical form or construction that expresses the individuation of a single referent from a mass noun.
English doesn't have a singulative number in general, but many uncountable nouns have usual singulative constructions.
plural singulatives
- grammarA singulative form or construction.
The singulative of "cattle" is "a head of cattle".
1 more example
The singulative of "scissors" is "a pair of scissors".
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*sem-“one, together”
- Proto-Italic*sem-g-lo-
- Latinsingillatim“singly", "one by one”
- Frenchsingulatif
- Englishsingulative
From French singulatif, from Latin singillatim (“singly", "one by one”), from singulus (“single", "separate”), from Proto-Italic *sem-g-lo-, a diminutive form derived from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one, together”).
More words from French, Latin, Proto-Italic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French singulatif
- singulatifa singulative form or construction
Latin nomen unitatis
- nomen unitatisa singulative form or construction
Russian одино́чное
- одино́чное (odinóčnoje)a singulative form or construction
Spanish singulativo
- singulativoa singulative form or construction
Welsh ffurf unigolynnol
- ffurf unigolynnola singulative form or construction
Cite this entry
singulative. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/singulative
“singulative.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/singulative. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “singulative,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/singulative.
Source: singulative on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.