Meanings
plural technological singularities
- A hypothetical future event in human history caused by the ever-increasing ability of new technology to speed up the rate at which new technology is developed.
For the consequences for humanity, if a technological singularity did indeed occur, would be seismic. What are these potentially seismic consequences? What sort of world, what sort of universe, might come into being if a technological singularity does occur?
2015, Murray Shanahan, The Technological Singularity, MIT Press, →ISBN, page xxSynonyms: singularity, Kurzweil singularity, Singularity
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA hypothetical future event in human history caused by the ever-increasing ability of new technology to speed up the rate at which new technology is developed.
Origin
Popularized by Vernor Vinge in 1993, by analogy to the gravitational singularity in black holes, where the conventional laws of science are thought to no longer apply, resulting in a breakdown of predictability.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish teknologinen singulariteetti
- teknologinen singulariteettitechnological singularity
French singularité technologique
- singularité technologiquetechnological singularity
German technologische Singularität
- technologische Singularitättechnological singularity
Polish osobliwość technologiczna
- osobliwość technologicznatechnological singularity
Spanish singularidad tecnológica
- singularidad tecnológicatechnological singularity
Cite this entry
technological singularity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/technological%20singularity
“technological singularity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/technological%20singularity. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “technological singularity,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/technological%20singularity.
Source: technological singularity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.