singulus

Latin

Latin numbers ^(edit)

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Cardinal: ūnus     Ordinal: prīmus     Adverbial: semel     Proportional: simplus     Multiplier: simplex     Distributive: singulus     Collective: ūniō     Fractional: integer

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *senɣelos, from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one”) + *ǵʰe (“distributive particle”) (compare Albanian gjithë).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈsin.ɡu.lus/, [ˈs̠ɪŋɡʊɫ̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsin.ɡu.lus/, [ˈsiŋɡulus]

Numeral

singulus (feminine singula, neuter singulum); first/second-declension numeral

1. (in the plural) one each, one apiece
2. each one, every one
   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico VII.16:

     in singula diei tempora

     in every hour of the day

   • c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca the Younger, De brevitate vitae 13:

     Persequi singulos longum est quorum aut latrunculi aut pila aut excoquendi in sole corporis cura consumpsere uitam.

     It would be tedious to mention all the different men who have spent the whole of their life over chess or ball or the practice of baking their bodies in the sun.

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico VII.17:

     Caesar cum [...] singulas legiones appellaret

     when Caesar addressed every legion

3. one at a time, one by one
4. separate, single

Usage notes

In Classical Latin, this adjective was used only in the plural, functioning as the distributive form of the numeral 1. Thus, the English descendant single is somewhat of a false friend: Classical Latin used other words such as ūnus, singulāris, sōlus when a grammatically singular adjective with the sense of "lone", "sole", "single", "singular" was needed (although singulus can be found with this sense pre- and post-classically).

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	singulus	singula	singulum		singulī	singulae	singula
genitive	singulī	singulae	singulī		singulōrum	singulārum	singulōrum
dative	singulō	singulae	singulō		singulīs
accusative	singulum	singulam	singulum		singulōs	singulās	singula
ablative	singulō	singulā	singulō		singulīs
vocative	singule	singula	singulum		singulī	singulae	singula

Derived terms

• singulāris
• singulārius
• singulātim/ singillātim

Descendants

• Aromanian: singur
• Catalan: sengles
• Dalmatian: sanglo
• → English: single (via Old French)
• Friulian: sengul
• → Irish: singil (via English)
• Italian: singolo
• Galician: senllos
• Old French: sengle
• Romanian: singur
• Sicilian: sìngulu
• Spanish: sendos

From diminutive *singellus:

• Asturian: cenciellu
• Galician: sinxelo
• Portuguese: singelo
• Spanish: sencillo
  • → Catalan: senzill (via Spanish)

Further reading

• “singuli”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• singulus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• singuli in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • year by year; day by day: singulis annis, diebus
    
  • from day to day: in dies (singulos)
    
  • corn had gone up to 50 denarii the bushel: ad denarios L in singulos modios annona pervenerat
    
• singuli in Dizionario Latino, Olivetti