Singular vs Only - What's the difference?
singular | only |
Being only one of a larger population.
Being the only one of the kind; unique.
* Addison
* Chaucer
Distinguished by superiority; eminent; extraordinary; exceptional.
Out of the ordinary; curious.
* Denham
* Milton
(grammar) Referring to only one thing or person.
(linear algebra, of matrix) Having no inverse.
(linear algebra, of transformation) Having the property that the matrix of coefficients of the new variables has a determinant equal to zero.
(set theory, of a cardinal number) Not equal to its own .
(legal) Each; individual.
(obsolete) Engaged in by only one on a side; single.
* Holinshed
Alone in a category.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-26, author=
, volume=189, issue=7, page=32, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= Singularly Superior; the best.
* (William Shakespeare)
Without sibling; without a sibling of the same gender.
* 1949 , and (Ernestine Gilbreth Carey), (Cheaper by the Dozen) , dedication:
(label) Mere.
* , I.40:
Without others or anything further; exclusively.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=
, volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= No more than; just.
* 1949 , Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, (Cheaper by the Dozen) , dedication:
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=20 * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=70, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= As recently as.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (obsolete) Above all others; particularly.
* Marston
Under the condition that; but.
However.
But for the fact that; except.
(rare) only child
* 2013 , Sybil L. Hart, ?Maria Legerstee, Handbook of Jealousy
As adjectives the difference between singular and only
is that singular is singular (linear algebra: of matrix: having no inverse) while only is alone in a category.As an adverb only is
without others or anything further; exclusively.As a conjunction only is
under the condition that; but.As a noun only is
(rare) only child.singular
English
Alternative forms
* (abbreviation):Adjective
(en adjective)- A singular experiment cannot be regarded as scientific proof of the existence of a phenomenon.
- She has a singular personality.
- These busts of the emperors and empresses are all very scarce, and some of them almost singular in their kind.
- And God forbid that all a company / Should rue a singular man's folly.
- (Francis Bacon)
- a man of singular gravity or attainments
- It was very singular ; I don't know why he did it.
- So singular a sadness / Must have a cause as strange as the effect.
- His zeal / None seconded, as out of season judged, / Or singular and rash.
- to convey several parcels of land, all and singular
- to try the matter thus together in a singular combat
Synonyms
* (being only one) individual * (being the only one of a kind) unique * (distinguished by superiority) exceptional, extraordinary, remarkable * (being out of the ordinary) curious, eccentric, funny, odd, peculiar, strange, rum, rummy, unusual * non-invertibleAntonyms
* plural * invertible, non-singularDerived terms
* singularity * singularizeAntonyms
* pluralExternal links
* * *See also
* * simplex * simple * single * singulusAnagrams
* ----only
English
Alternative forms
* onely (obsolete)Adjective
(-)Nick Miroff
Mexico gets a taste for eating insects, passage=The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters such as ostrich, wild boar and crocodile. Only the city zoo offers greater species diversity.}}
- Motley's the only wear.
- To DAD ¶ who only reared twelve children ¶ and ¶ To MOTHER ¶ who reared twelve only children
- I know some who wittingly have drawne both profit and preferment from cuckoldrie, the only name whereof is so yrksome and bail-ful to so many men.
Synonyms
* (alone in a category) sole, lone * (singularly superior) peerless, unequaled, nonpareilDerived terms
* if any * if only * one and only * only child * only game in town * only ifAdverb
(-)Ed Pilkington
‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told, passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}
- To DAD
- who only reared twelve children
- and
- To MOTHER
- who reared twelve only children
citation, passage=‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’}}
Engineers of a different kind, passage=Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.}}
Yesterday’s fuel, passage=The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).}}
- his most only elected mistress
Derived terms
* if and only if * only ifConjunction
(English Conjunctions)Statistics
*Noun
(onlies)- The consistent finding that infants who are onlies do not differ from those who have siblings despite their lesser history of exposure to differential treatment is perplexing.