What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Unique vs Intrinsic - What's the difference?

unique | intrinsic |

As adjectives the difference between unique and intrinsic

is that unique is being the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched while intrinsic is innate, inherent, inseparable from the thing itself, essential.

As nouns the difference between unique and intrinsic

is that unique is a thing without a like; something unequalled or unparallelled while intrinsic is {{cx|computing|programming|lang=en}} A built-in function that is implemented directly by the compiler, without any intermediate call to a library.

unique

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • (not comparable) Being the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched.
  • *
  • *
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
    • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=3 citation , passage=‘[…] There's every Staffordshire crime-piece ever made in this cabinet, and that's unique . The Van Hoyer Museum in New York hasn't that very rare second version of Maria Marten's Red Barn over there, nor the little Frederick George Manning—he was the criminal Dickens saw hanged on the roof of the gaol in Horsemonger Lane, by the way—’}}
  • *
  • *
  • Of a feature, such that only one holder has it.
  • Particular, characteristic.
  • * '>citation
  • (proscribed) Of a rare quality, unusual.
  • * {{quote-book, passage=And as I look back, it seems to me that we were fairly unique , the sixty of us, in that there wasn’t one good mixer in the bunch.
    • , title=For Esmé—With Love and Squalor , author=J.D. Salinger , year=1950}}

    Usage notes

    The comparative and superlative forms more unique'' and ''most unique'', as well as the use of ''unique'' with modifiers as in ''fairly unique'' and ''very unique , are sometimes proscribed, with the reasoning that either something is unique or it is not.

    Synonyms

    (checksyns) * one of a kind * sui generis * singular

    Derived terms

    * uniqueness

    Related terms

    * unicity * one-of-a-kind * inimitable

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A thing without a like; something unequalled or unparallelled.
  • * De Quincey
    • The phoenix, the unique of birds.

    External links

    * * * English autological terms English disputed terms ----

    intrinsic

    English

    (Intrinsic and extrinsic properties)

    Alternative forms

    * intrinsick (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Innate, inherent, inseparable from the thing itself, essential.
    • the intrinsic value of gold or silver
    the intrinsic merit of an action
  • * I. Taylor
    • He was better qualified than they to estimate justly the intrinsic value of Grecian philosophy and refinement.
  • Situated, produced, secreted in, or coming from inside an organ, tissue, muscle or member.

    • Antonyms

    * extrinsic

    Derived terms

    * * * * *

    Related terms

    * intrinsicality

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A built-in function that is implemented directly by the compiler, without any intermediate call to a library.
  • An ability possessed by a character and not requiring any external equipment.
    • You can acquire the fire-resistance intrinsic by eating dragon meat.

    External links

    * *