singular 
My master is in love with a lady of a very singular taste, 
!\ lady who likes him better as a half-pay ensign than if 
she knew he was son and heir to Sir Anthony Absolute, a 
baronet of three thousand a year. 
Sheridan, The Rivals, i. 1. 
10. Ill lllillll., exceptional, (a) In gemn. ami ill//., 
having pt " *-*-- n a 1 -*.. 
3. (b) In 
eral rule. 
low. All and singular. See all. Singular c( 
tlon, munition of illogical singular. Singular differ- 
ence Name as numerical difference (6) (which see, un- 
der difference). Singular integral of a partial dif- 
ferential equation, a solution not included under the 
complete integral, nor under the general integral. It 
represents the general envelop of the surfaces repre- 
sented by the complete integral. Singular mood, a 
mood or syllogism in which one at least of the prem- 
ises is a singular proposition. Otherwise called singu- 
lar syllogism or expository syllogism . Singular point, 
a point of a curve, surface, etc., which presents any 
non-metrical peculiarity : such, for instance, are nodes 
or points of crossing, conjugate or outlying points not 
adjacent to any other real point, stationary points or 
cusps, points of stopping in certain transcendental curves, 
and points of contrary Hexnre. In the same sense there 
are singular tangents and tangent planes. Singular 
proposition, in logic. See priipontinn. Singular root 
of an equation with one unknown quantity, an equal 
root ; a root resulting from the coincidence of two roots, 
so that, if the absolute term were altered by an infinitesi- 
mal amount, there would be either two real roots or two 
imaginary roots in place of that root. Singular root of 
an indeterminate equation, a root which corresponds 
to a double point on the curve, surface, etc., which the 
equation represents. Singular solution of a differen- 
tial equation, a solution not included In the complete 
primitive. This solution is the envelop of the family of 
curves represented by the primitive with its arbitrary 
constant, in the case of a differential equation of the first 
order. Singular successor, in Scots lair, & purchaser 
or other disponee, or acquirer by titles, whether judicial 
or voluntary, in contradistinction to the heir, who succeeds 
by a general title of succession or universal representa- 
tion. Singular syllogism. Same as singular mood. 
Singular term, a term which stands for one individual. 
See term. =Syn. Band 7. Unwonted, exceptional, unparal- 
leled. 9. Strange, Odd, etc. See eccentric. 
II. n. 1. That which is singular, in any sense 
of the word ; that which is alone, separate, in- 
dividual, unique, rare, or peculiar. See singu- 
lar, a. 
Eloquence would be but a poor thing, if we should only 
converse with singulars, speak but man and man together. 
B. Jonson, Discoveries. 
2. Intirnui., the singular number. 3f. Inhitnt- 
ing, a company or pack : said of boars. 
A singular of boars. Strtitt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 80. 
4. In lot/ir, that which is not general, but has 
real reactions with other things. Scotus and others 
define the singular as that which is here and now that 
is, only in one place at one time. The Leibnitzian school 
define the singular as that which is determinate in every 
respect. 
There are, besides singulars, other objects of the mind 
universal. Cudirorlh, Intellectual -System, p. 854. 
Abstraction from singulars but not from matter. 
See abgtractinn. 
singularist (sing'gu-liir-ist), n. [< xint/iilar + 
-Me.] One who affects singularity. [Rare.] 
A clownish singularixt, or nonconformist to ordinary 
rules. Barrow, Works, III. xxxiv. 
singularity (sing-gu-lar'ji-ti), n. ; pi. singulari- 
ties (-tiz). [< OF. singiilarite, vernacularly 
geiiglierte (> ME. xi/nglerti/), F. xiiif/ularite = 
Pr. gingnlaritat = Sp. siiigularidad = Pg. siiiyu- 
laridade = It. singnlarita,' < LL. singnl<irita(t-)s, 
singleness. < L. sintjularis, single : see singu- 
lar.] 1. The state or character of being singu- 
lar, (a) Existence as a unit, or in the singular number. 
Thou President, of an vnequal'd Parity; 
Thou Plurall Number, In thy Sinyidarity. 
Heyicood, Hierarchy of Angels, p. 289. 
(b) Separateness from others; solitariness: specifically, 
celibacy. 
Celibate, like the fly in the heart of an apple, dwells in 
a perpetual sweetness, but sits alone, and is confined and 
dies in singularity. 
Jer. Taylor, Sermons, The Marriage Ring. 
(c) Individualism, as in conduct, opinion, characteristics, 
etc. 
We do perceive greatdiscommodity to the realm of your 
grace's [Mary's] singularity, if it may be so named, in opin- 
ion- State Trials, Edw. VI., an. 1551. 
The argument ad crumenam, as it has been called by 
jocular logicians, has weight with the greater part of man- 
kind, and Andrew was in that particular far from affect- 
ing any trick of singularity. Scott, Rob Roy, xxvil. 
(d) Uniqueness ; the state of having no duplicate, parallel 
or peer. 
Now for synglerty o hyr dousour, 
We calle hyr f enyx of Arraby. 
Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), i. 429. 
St. Gregory, . . . writing against the title of universal 
bishop, saith thus ; None of all my predecessors ever con- 
sented to use this ungodly title ; no bishop of Rome ever 
took upon him this name of singularity. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity. 
(e) UnusualneBs ; rareness ; uncommon character ; hence, 
specifically, rare excellence, value, eminence, or note. 
564* 
In this course nf setting down medicines, even as I meet 
with any hearlte of any *in<jid<iritii. 1 will raunge it there 
whereas I know it to be most soveraigne and effectual!. 
Holland, tr. of Pliny, xxv. 9. 
It is the singularity of the expression which reigns upon 
tin' face [of the captain] it is the intense, the wonderful, 
the thrilling evidence of old age so utter, so extreme, 
which excites within my spirit a sense a sentiment in- 
effable. Poe, MS. Found in a Bottle. 
(/) Variation from established or customary usage ; ec- 
centricity ; oddity ; strangeness. 
I '.MI Inn ..us nations, of ignorance and rude singularitie. 
Ascham, The Scholemaster, p. 147. 
There is no man of worth but has a piece of singularity, 
and scornes something. 
Bp. Earle, Micro-cosmographie, A Vulgar-spirited Man. 
That conceit of singularity ... is the natural recoil 
from our uneasy consciousness of being commonplace. 
Lou'ell, Democracy. 
2. That which is singular; a singular person, 
thing, event, act, characteristic, mood, or the 
like ; especially, an individual or personal pe- 
culiarity. 
Your gallery 
Have we pass'd through, not without much content 
In many singularitie*. Shalr., W. T., v. 3. 12. 
And when afterwards in a singularitie he had gone aside 
into a Caue, and there mewed vp himselfe, and persisted 
in hypocrisie and fasting, he there dyed (as the fame goeth) 
through his wilfull want of bread and water. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 154. 
A man whose virtues, generosity, and singularities are 
so universally known. Goldsmith, Vicar, Ui. 
3. In math., an exceptional element or char- 
acter of a continuum, (o) In mom., a projectlve char- 
acter of a locus consisting in certain points, lines, or planes 
being exceptional in their relations to It. (For examples, 
see binode.) An ordinary singularity is one of a set of 
singularities of which all others are modifications or com- 
pounds. Thus, an actual node upon a skew curve is a mod- 
ification of an apparent node, and ought not to be reckoned 
as an ordinary singularity. But cusps and inflections, as 
stationary points and tangents, are ordinary singularities. 
A higher singularity is one which differs indefinitely little 
from an aggregation of ordinal-) singularities. (Seetacnode.) 
By an ellipsis common In geometrical language, the word 
singularity is used for point-singularity, or a relation to 
some exceptional point. Thus, a plane curve with neither 
nodes nor cusps is said to be without singularities, although, 
unless a conic, it has inflections, and unless a conic or cubic, 
double tangents. The word singularity is also used to 
denote the number of singulai points, lines, or planes of 
any one kind ; also for any number characteristic of a pro- 
jective property, in which sense the order, class, and rank 
of a locus are sometimes termed singularities. (6) In the 
theory of functions, a property of a function consisting in 
it or its differential coefficient becoming discontinuous for 
a certain value or connected system of values of the vari- 
able. Elliptic, essential, hyperbolic singularity. 
See the adjectives. Simple singularity, a singularity 
of a function consisting in it or its differential coefficient 
becoming ambiguous or discontinuous at an isolated point 
or points, while remaining unambiguous and continuous 
at all other points sufficiently near to these. - Syn. 1. Un- 
commonness, oddness. 2. Idiosyncrasy. See eccentric. 
singularization (sing'gu-lar-i-za'shon), . [< 
xingularize + -ation.] The act of singulariz- 
ing; specifically, transformation from the plural 
to the singular number. For examples, see 
cherry. pea 1 , roe 2 , Chinee. Also spelled aingii- 
larisation. 
Your correspondent asks for examples of ignorant sin- 
gularization. I can supply him with one. A lady of my 
acquaintance entered a shop and asked to see some hose. 
The salesman . . . called her attention to a particular stock- 
ing, with the remark, ' ' There, madam ; that 's as fine a ho 
as you will find anywhere." JV. and Q., 7th ser., VII. 310. 
singularize (sing'gu-lar-iz), v. t. ; pret. and pp. 
singiilari:ed, ppr. singularizing. [< singular + 
-ire.] 1. To make singular; change to the 
singular number. See singularization. 2. To 
signalize; distinguish. [Bare.] 
The two Amazons who singularized themselves most in 
action. 
Smollett, Humphrey Clinker, Melford to Phillips, April 30. 
Also spelled singularise. 
Singularly (sing'gu-lar-li), ailr. [< ME. syngii- 
lerty ; < singular + -fy 2 .] In a singular man- 
ner, (a) With reference to one only ; Individually ; singly ; 
specifically, in the singular number ; so as to express the 
singular number. 
Every man after his phantasy choosing him one saint 
singularly to be saved by. 
Tyndale, Ans. to Sir T. More, etc. (Parker Soc. , 1850), p. 117. 
(6t) Separately ; alone. 
These worthy Estates a-foreseid high of renowne, 
Vche Estate syngulerly in halle shalle sit adowne. 
Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 189. 
(c) Uniquely ; rarely ; unusually ; remarkably ; excep- 
tionally. 
The affection felt for him [Hastings] by the civil service 
was singularly ardent and constant. 
Macaulay, Warren Hastings. 
(if) Strangely ; oddly ; with eccentricity : as, a person 
singularly dressed. 
singularness (sing'gu-lar-nes), n. Singularity. 
Bailey, 1731. 
Singuiosilicate (sing^gu-lo-siri-kat), n. [< L. 
singiilug, single, + E. silicate.'} A unisilicate. 
sinister 
SingUltt (siiiR'gult), n. [= ( )F. .tunal'it, s 
F. sanglot=PT. sanylot, ganghit, xiiii/hit (cf. Sp. 
soll<>: = It. xingliioo, xingozzo, < ML. as if 
"siiigitltiuin), < L. singultvs, sobbing speeoli, ;i 
sob, hiccup, rattle in the throat.] A sob or 
sigh. 
There an huge heape of singult* [in some editions errone- 
ously sin<rtdfs\ did oppresse 
His strugling soule. Spenser, F. Q., III. xi. 12. 
So, when her teares was stopt from eyther eye, 
Her singults, blubberings, seem'd to make them flye 
Out at her oyster-mouth and nosethrils wide. 
W. Browne, Britannia's Pastorals, ii. 1. 
singultient (sing-gul'shient), a. [< L. siiigul- 
tien(t-).*. ppr. of xinyultire, sob, hiccup, < sin- 
i/Hltitx, a sob, hiccup: see singult,'} Sobbing; 
sighing. [Rare.] 
Som of ripe age will screech, cry, and howle in so many 
disordered notes and singultient accents. 
Hou'ett, Parly of Beasts, p. 23. (Daviet.) 
Singultous (sing-gul'tus), a. [< F. singiillm n.r ; 
iis siitgiilt + -oiis.] In nied., relating to or af- 
fected with hiccup. 
singultUB (sing-gul'tus), w. [L. : see xingult.] 
A Tiiccup. 
Sinhalese (sin-ha-leV or -lez' ), n . and a. Same 
as Cingalese. 
Sinian (sin'i-au), n. [< L. Sinee, the Chinese (see 
Ninie), + -!.] A name given by Richthofen 
to a series of rocks occupying large areas in 
China, and containing numerous fossils of the 
primordial fauna of Barrande, especially those 
trilobites and brachiopods which are character- 
istic of the lowest known f ossi lit' erous rocks. 
See Silurian. 
Sinic (sin'ik), a. [< ML. Sinievs (MGr. 2(v<K<ic), 
Chinese, < Sina (also China), China, L. Since, Gr. 
!/;<;/. the Chinese; cf. Gr. Qlv, China, Olvat, a 
city in China, Hind. Chin, China, E. China, etc.: 
see Chinese, china. The name is not found in 
Chinese.] Chinese. 
sinical (sin'i-kal), a. [< sine 2 + -ic-al.'} Of or 
pertaining to a sine. Sinical quadrant See quad- 
rant. 
Sinicism (sin'i-sizm), . [< Klnic + -ism.'] 
Chinese manners, customs, and principles col- 
lectively. 
sinioryt, . An obsolete spelling of seigniori/. 
Sinism (sin'izm), n. [< ML. Sina, China, ' + 
-*m.] A proposed name for Chinese institu- 
tions collectively ; especially, the Chinese an- 
cient and indigenous religion. 
Sinister (sin'is-ter, formerly also si-nis'tfer), a. 
[< ME. tinistre, < OF. sinistre, senestre, F. sinistre 
= Sp. siniestro = Pg. sinistro = It. sinestro, sinix- 
tro, < L. sinister, left, on the left hand, hence 
inauspicious or ill-omened; connections un- 
known. The opposite dexter has Teut. and 
other connections (see dexter, deagil), but the 
Teut. words for ' left ' are different : AS. minster, 
tcynster (wiwtr-) = OS. icinistar = OFries. win- 
stere = OHG. winistar, Winstar, MHG. irinster = 
Icel. rinstri = Sw. venster, vcnstra = Dan. ren- 
xtre, left; AS. lyft, left, lit. 'weak' (see ieffi); 
D. linkach = MLG. link = OHG. "lenc. MHG. 
lenc, line, G. link, left; OHG. slinc, left.] 1. 
Left, as opposed to right; on the left side; 
specifically, in her., noting the left-hand side 
of the person who carries the shield on his 
arm (therefore the right-hand side of the spec- 
tator): the sinister part of the escutcheon is 
opposed to the dexter part (see dexter). Bear- 
ings such as beasts and birds nearly always turn away from 
the sinister and toward the dexter ; when they are turned 
toward the sinister, they are said to be reverted. See cut 
under pointl, 21. 
The sinistre arme smote he vppon trew, 
Ryght as belonged to knightly uertew. 
Bom. of Partenaji (E. E. T. S.), 1. 3049. 
My mother's blood 
Runs on the dexter cheek, and this sinister 
Bounds In my father's. Shale., T. and C., iv. 5. 128. 
2. On or toward the left or unlucky side; 
hence, of ill omen; inauspicious; threatening 
or suggesting evil. 
The victor eagle, whose sinister flight 
Retards our host, and fills our hearts with fright. 
Pope, Iliad, xii. 267. 
3. Bringing evil; harmful; malign: unfortu- 
nate in results. 
One sinister accident hapned to me. 
Curyat, Crudities, 1. 182. 
Such a life was fillister to the intellect, and sinister to 
the heart. Hau-thorne, Twice-Told Tales, Main Street. 
4. Unpleasant ; disagreeable. 
The weary flatness and utter desolation of this valley 
present a sinister contrast to the broad line of the Apen- 
nines. J. A. Symonds, Italy and Greece, p. 96. 
5. Malicious; evil; base; wrong. 
