English

Adjective

sui generis ‎(not comparable)

1. In a class of its own; one of a kind.

   Anyone who considers the Femmes sui generis has never listened to the Velvets.

   • 1994, Frances and Joseph Gies, “The Technology of the Commercial Revolution”, in Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel, ISBN 9780060925819, page 111:

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

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

     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.

1. (rarer) By itself; of its own.

   It is nothing to worry about sui generis, but in context of the other factors it's alarming indeed.

Synonyms

• (in a class of its own): one of a kind, unique
• (by itself): per se

Translations

Italian

Etymology

Latin

Adjective

sui generis ‎(invariable)

1. sui generis