Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Unit

U′nit

,
Noun.
[Abbrev. from
unity
.]
1.
A single thing or person.
2.
(Arith.)
The least whole number; one.
Units
are the integral parts of any large number.
I. Watts.
3.
A gold coin of the reign of James I., of the value of twenty shillings.
Camden.
4.
Any determinate amount or quantity (as of length, time, heat, value) adopted as a standard of measurement for other amounts or quantities of the same kind.
5.
(Math.)
A single thing, as a magnitude or number, regarded as an undivided whole.
Abstract unit
,
the unit of numeration; one taken in the abstract; the number represented by 1. The term is used in distinction from concrete, or determinate, unit, that is, a unit in which the kind of thing is expressed; a unit of measure or value; as 1 foot, 1 dollar, 1 pound, and the like.
–
Complex unit
(Theory of Numbers)
,
an imaginary number of the form
a + b
-1
, when
a
2
+ b
2
= 1
.
–
Duodecimal unit
,
a unit in the scale of numbers increasing or decreasing by twelves.
–
Fractional unit
,
the unit of a fraction; the reciprocal of the denominator; thus, ¼ is the unit of the fraction 3⁄4.
–
Integral unit
,
the unit of integral numbers, or 1.
–
Physical unit
,
a value or magnitude conventionally adopted as a unit or standard in physical measurements. The various physical units are usually based on given units of length, mass, and time, and on the density or other properties of some substance, for example, water. See
Dyne
,
Erg
,
Farad
,
Ohm
,
Poundal
, etc.
–
Unit deme
(Biol.)
,
a unit of the inferior order or orders of individuality.
–
Unit jar
(Elec.)
,
a small, insulated Leyden jar, placed between the electrical machine and a larger jar or battery, so as to announce, by its repeated discharges, the amount of electricity passed into the larger jar.
–
Unit of heat
(Physics)
,
a determinate quantity of heat adopted as a unit of measure; a thermal unit (see under
Thermal
). Water is the substance generally employed, the unit being one gram or one pound, and the temperature interval one degree of the Centigrade or Fahrenheit scale. When referred to the gram, it is called the gram degree. The British unit of heat, or thermal unit, used by engineers in England and in the United States, is the quantity of heat necessary to raise one pound of pure water at and near its temperature of greatest density (39.1° Fahr.) through one degree of the Fahrenheit scale.
Rankine.
–
Unit of illumination
,
the light of a sperm candle burning 120 grains per hour. Standard gas, burning at the rate of five cubic feet per hour, must have an illuminating power equal to that of fourteen such candles.
–
Unit of measure
(as of length, surface, volume, dry measure, liquid measure, money, weight, time, and the like), in general, a determinate quantity or magnitude of the kind designated, taken as a standard of comparison for others of the same kind, in assigning to them numerical values, as 1 foot, 1 yard, 1 mile, 1 square foot, 1 square yard, 1 cubic foot, 1 peck, 1 bushel, 1 gallon, 1 cent, 1 ounce, 1 pound, 1 hour, and the like; more specifically, the fundamental unit adopted in any system of weights, measures, or money, by which its several denominations are regulated, and which is itself defined by comparison with some known magnitude, either natural or empirical, as, in the United States, the dollar for money, the pound avoirdupois for weight, the yard for length, the gallon of 8.3389 pounds avoirdupois of water at 39.8° Fahr. (about 231 cubic inches) for liquid measure, etc.; in Great Britain, the pound sterling, the pound troy, the yard, or 1⁄108719 part of the length of a second’s pendulum at London, the gallon of 277.274 cubic inches, etc.; in the metric system, the meter, the liter, the gram, etc.
–
Unit of power
.
(Mach.)
See
Horse power
.
–
Unit of resistance
.
(Elec.)
See
Resistance
,
Noun.
, 4, and
Ohm
.
–
Unit of work
(Physics)
,
the amount of work done by a unit force acting through a unit distance, or the amount required to lift a unit weight through a unit distance against gravitation. See
Erg
,
Foot Pound
,
Kilogrammeter
.
–
Unit stress
(Mech. Physics)
,
stress per unit of area; intensity of stress. It is expressed in ounces, pounds, tons, etc., per square inch, square foot, or square yard, etc., or in atmospheres, or inches of mercury or water, or the like.

Webster 1828 Edition

Unit

U'NIT

,
Noun.
[L. unus, one; unitas, unity.]
1.
One; a word which denotes a single thing or person; the least whole number.
Units are the integral parts of any large number.
2.
In mathematics, any known determinate quantity, by the constant repetition of which, any other quantity of the same kind is measured. [See Unity.]

Definition 2024

unit

unit

See also: unît

English

Noun

unit ‎(plural units)

  1. (sciences) A standard measure of a quantity.
    The centimetre is a unit of length.
  2. The number one.
  3. Short for international unit.
    This pill provides 500 units of Vitamin E.
  4. An organized group comprising people and/or equipment.
    He was a member of a special police unit.
  5. (military, informal) A member of a military organization.
    The fifth tank brigade moved in with 20 units. (i.e., 20 tanks)
  6. (US, military) Any military element whose structure is prescribed by competent authority, such as a table of organization and equipment; specifically, part of an organization[1].
  7. (US, military) An organization title of a subdivision of a group in a task force[1].
  8. (US, military) A standard or basic quantity into which an item of supply is divided, issued, or used. In this meaning, also called unit of issue[1].
  9. (US, military) With regard to Reserve Components of the Armed Forces, denotes a Selected Reserve unit organized, equipped, and trained for mobilization to serve on active duty as a unit or to augment or be augmented by another unit. Headquarters and support functions without wartime missions are not considered units[1].
  10. (algebra) The identity element, neutral element.
  11. (algebra) An element having an inverse, an invertible element.
  12. (category theory) In an adjunction, a natural transformation from the identity functor of the domain of the left adjoint functor to the composition of the right adjoint functor with the left adjoint functor.
  13. (geology) A volume of rock or ice of identifiable origin and age range that is defined by the distinctive and dominant, easily mapped and recognizable petrographic, lithologic or paleontologic features (facies) that characterize it.
  14. (commerce) An item which may be sold singly.
    We shipped nearly twice as many units this month as last month.
  15. (Britain) A unit of alcohol.
  16. (Britain, electricity) One kilowatt-hour (as recorded on an electricity meter).
  17. (Australia, New Zealand) a measure of housing equivalent to the living quarters of one household, an apartment where a group of apartments is contained in one or more multi-storied buildings or a group of dwellings is in one or more single storey buildings, usually arranged around a driveway.
  18. (historical) A gold coin of the reign of James I, worth twenty shillings.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Camden to this entry?)

Synonyms

Translations

Adjective

unit ‎(not comparable)

  1. For each unit.
    We have to keep our unit costs down if we want to make a profit.
  2. (mathematics) Having a size or magnitude of one.
    • 1990, William W. S. Wei, Time Series Analysis, ISBN 0201159112, page 9:
      Consider the following time sequence
      ,
      where is a random variable with a zero mean and a unit variance and is a random variable with a uniform distribution on the interval independent of .

Translations

Derived terms

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Joint Publication 1-02 U.S. Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms; 12 April 2001 (As Amended Through 14 April 2006).

Anagrams

Catalan

Adjective

unit m ‎(feminine unida, masculine plural units, feminine plural unides)

  1. united

Verb

unit m ‎(feminine unida, masculine plural units, feminine plural unides)

  1. past participle of unir

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /y.ni/

Verb

unit

  1. third-person singular present indicative of unir
  2. third-person singular past historic of unir

Anagrams

Latin

Verb

ūnit

  1. third-person singular present active indicative of ūniō

Romanian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [uˈnit]

Participle

unit

  1. past participle of uni

Declension

Welsh

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Verb

unit

  1. (literary) second-person singular imperfect / conditional of uno

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal h-prothesis
unit unchanged unchanged hunit
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Etymology

Formerly unite, a later form of unity; see unity.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈjuː.nɪt/
  • Rhymes: -uːnɪt

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