uniqueness

C2+ Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /juˈniknəs/ UK /juːˈniːknəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the quality of being the only one of its kind

The artist's uniqueness set her apart from her peers.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of being the... singularity distinctiveness individuality unicity singleness rarity

Opposites

commonness ordinariness sameness

Word family

Related forms unique uniquely unicity

Etymology

From unique (from French unique, from Latin unicus 'only, sole', from unus 'one') + -ness.

unicus Latin unus Latin *óynos Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# uniqueness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /juˈniknəs/
**IPA (UK):** /juːˈniːknəs/

## Meanings
1. the quality of being the only one of its kind

## Examples
- The artist's uniqueness set her apart from her peers.

## Synonyms
- singularity
- distinctiveness
- individuality
- unicity
- singleness
- rarity

## Antonyms
- commonness
- ordinariness
- sameness

## Related Forms
- unique
- uniquely
- unicity

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: unicus
- Root: unus
- Root: *óynos

## Etymology
From unique (from French unique, from Latin unicus 'only, sole', from unus 'one') + -ness.

## AI Etymology
Uniqueness comes from unique (from French unique, from Latin unicus 'only, sole', from unus 'one') + -ness. The historical chain includes Latin unicus, Latin unus, and Proto-Indo-European *óynos. The quoted older senses, "only, sole" and "one", supply the semantic anchors for uniqueness. The formation is best read as suffixal and borrowed: the word uniqueness carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "the quality of being the only one of its kind". Related English forms include unique, uniquely, and unicity. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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