sui generis

1. not comparablelawIn a class of its own; one of a kind.

   The transcendent case before us is absolutely sui generis.

   1828, John Pye Smith, Four Discourses on the Sacrifice and Priesthood of Jesus Christ: and on Atonement and Redemption, page 67

   5 more examples

   It is easy to describe second-rate talents, because they fall into a class and enlist under a standard; but first-rate powers defy calculation or comparison, and can be defined only by themselves. They are sui generis, and make the class to which they belong.

   1821–1822, William Hazlitt, “Character of Cobbett”, in Table-Talk; or, Original Essays, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Warren; Henry Colburn and Co.

   The eminent Italian geologist, Stoppani, goes further than I had ventured to do, and treats the action of man as a new physical element altogether sui generis.

   1874, George P. Marsh, The Earth as Modified by Human Action

   The system was neither free enterprise nor socialism; it was sui generis, one of the unique creations of the Middle Ages.

   1994, Frances and Joseph Gies, “The Technology of the Commercial Revolution”, in Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel, →ISBN, page 111

   We see him as he sees himself, surveying the invisible depths of ethical space, with all the distinction of a specialist in the sui generis.

   1995, J.L. Austin, How To Do Things With Words

   Based on Phoebe Gloeckner’s remarkable, sui generis semi-autobiographical graphic novel, […]

   2015 August 6, Leslie Felperin, “The Diary of a Teenage Girl review – a scaldingly honest coming-of-age comedy”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 14 Aug 2021

   Synonyms: one of a kind, unique, original

1. not comparablerareBy itself; of its own.

   Another possibility is that the council acted sui generis and expressed a one-off view on the facts with no precedential significance.

   2014 August 7, Jonas Ebbesson, Marie Jacobsson, Mark Adam Klamberg, David Langlet, Pål Wrange, International Law and Changing Perceptions of Security: Liber Amicorum Said Mahmoudi, Hotei Publishing, →ISBN, page 5

   2 more examples

   They came up with a program that the federal Minister of Agriculture and his provincial colleagues agreed was a good and appropriate approach to handling that particular problem. They did it sui generis.

   2003, Canada. Parliament. Senate. Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, Délibérations Du Comité Sénatorial Permanent Des Affaires Sociales, Des Sciences Et de la Technologie

   The refutation of Kleinliteratur conceptions enabled Kloppenborg to do away with the idea that Q was created sui generis, which, in turn, enabled him to compare Q with other ancient literature (Kirk 1998:35–36, 64).

   2015 December 31, Llewellyn Howes, Judging Q and saving Jesus - Q’s contribution to the wisdom-apocalypticism debate in historical Jesus studies., AOSIS, →ISBN, page 62

   Synonyms: per se

plural rare sui genera

1. lawSomething of its own kind; a thing apart.

   It is word-generated knowledge or knowledge by testimony ( K. T. for short ) – a sui generis.

   2013 June 29, Bimal K. Matilal, A. Chakrabarti, Knowing from Words: Western and Indian Philosophical Analysis of Understanding and Testimony, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 100

   2 more examples

   Prior to the 1990s a large segment of New Testament scholarship maintained that the Gospels represent a sui generis, that is, a genre unique to them. This sui generis was viewed as a type of mythology.

   2020 May 21, Michael R Licona, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach, Inter-Varsity Press, →ISBN

   Insofar as none of these approaches has ever been formally overruled by the highest Court of the land, the law of deviation remains an area of controversy and is practically treated as a sui generis - that is, as a law quite distinct from the general law of contract.

   2021 October 5, Sze Ping-fat, Carrier's Liability under the Hague, Hague-Visby and Hamburg Rules, BRILL, →ISBN, page 124