What is the difference between unit and piece?

As nouns the difference between unit and piece

is that unit is a standard measure of a quantity while piece is a part of a larger whole, usually in such a form that it is able to be separated from other parts.

As an adjective unit

is for each unit.

As a verb piece is

to assemble (something real or figurative).

unit

English

(Unit)

Noun

(en noun)

(sciences) A standard measure of a quantity.

The centimetre is a unit of length.

The number one.

This pill provides 500 units of Vitamin E.

An organized group comprising people and/or equipment.

He was a member of a special police unit .

(military, informal) A member of a military organization.

The fifth tank brigade moved in with 20 units .'' (''i.e., 20 tanks )

(US, military) Any military element whose structure is prescribed by competent authority, such as a table of organization and equipment; specifically, part of an organizationJoint Publication 1-02 U.S. Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms; 12 April 2001 (As Amended Through 14 April 2006). .

(US, military) An organization title of a subdivision of a group in a task force.

(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.

(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.

(algebra) An element of a ring having a multiplicative inverse. (Formerly just the identity element 1_R of a ring.)

(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.

(commerce) An item which may be sold singly.

We shipped nearly twice as many units this month as last month.

(UK, electricity) One kilowatt-hour (as recorded on an electricity meter).

(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.

(historical) A gold coin of the reign of James I, worth twenty shillings.

(Camden)

Synonyms

* (identity element) identity element, unit element

Adjective

(-)

For each unit.

We have to keep our unit costs down if we want to make a profit.

(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

*::

Z_t=A\sin(\omega t+\theta)

where $A$ is a random variable with a zero mean and a unit variance and $\theta$ is a random variable with a uniform distribution on the interval $[-\pi,\pi]$ independent of $A$ .

Derived terms

* construction unit * tractor unit * unit aircraft * unitality * unit cost * unit combat readiness * unit commitment status * unit designation list

References

External links

* * *

Anagrams

* 1000 English basic words ----

piece

English

Alternative forms

* peece (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)

A part of a larger whole, usually in such a form that it is able to be separated from other parts.

A single item belonging to a class of similar items: as, for example, a piece of machinery, a piece of software.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Welcome to the plastisphere , passage=[The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […].}}

(chess) One of the figures used in playing chess, specifically a higher-value figure as distinguished from a pawn; by extension, a similar counter etc. in other games.

* 1959 , (Hans Kmoch), Pawn Power in Chess , I:

Pawns, unlike pieces , move only in one direction: forward.

A coin, especially one valued at less than the principal unit of currency.

a sixpenny piece

An artistic creation, such as a painting, sculpture, musical composition, literary work, etc.

An artillery gun.

(US, Canada, colloquial) (short for hairpiece); a toupee or wig, usually when worn by a man.

A slice or other quantity of bread, eaten on its own; a sandwich or light snack.

* 2008 , (James Kelman), Kieron Smith, Boy , Penguin 2009, p. 46:

My grannie came and gived them all a piece and jam and cups of water then I was to bring them back out to the street and play a game.

(US, colloquial) A gun.

(US, colloquial, vulgar) A sexual encounter; from piece of ass or piece of tail

(US, colloquial, mildly, vulgar) (short for "piece of crap") a shoddy or worthless object, usually applied to consumer products like vehicles or appliances.

(US, slang) A cannabis pipe.

(baseball) Used to describe a pitch that has been hit but not well, usually either being caught by the opposing team or going foul. Usually used in the past tense with got, and never used in the plural.

(dated, sometimes, derogatory) An individual; a person.

* Sir Philip Sidney

If I had not been a piece of a logician before I came to him.

* Shakespeare

Thy mother was a piece of virtue.

* Coleridge

His own spirit is as unsettled a piece as there is in all the world.

(obsolete) A castle; a fortified building.

(Spenser)

(US) A pacifier.

Synonyms

* See also * See also

Usage notes

When used as a baseball term, the term is idiomatic in that the baseball is almost never broken into pieces. It is rare in modern baseball for the cover of a baseball to even partially tear loose. In professional baseball, several new, not previously played baseballs are used in each game. It could be argued that the phrase was never meant (not even metaphorically) to refer to breaking the ball into pieces, and that "get a piece of the ball" means the bat contacts only a small area of the ball - in other words, that the ball is hit off-center. In that case "get" would mean "succeed in hitting", not "obtain".

Derived terms

* bits and pieces * piecemeal * piecen * piece of cake * piece of eight * piece of the action

Verb

(piec)

(transitive, usually, with together) To assemble (something real or figurative).

These clues allowed us to piece together the solution to the mystery.

* Fuller

His adversaries pieced themselves together in a joint opposition against him.

To make, enlarge, or repair, by the addition of a piece or pieces; to patch; often with out .

to piece a garment

(Shakespeare)

(slang) To produce a work of graffiti more complex than a tag.

* 2009 , Gregory J. Snyder, Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground (page 40)

It is incorrect to say that toys tag and masters piece ; toys just do bad tags, bad throw-ups, and bad pieces.

* 2009 , Scape Martinez, GRAFF: The Art & Technique of Graffiti (page 124)

It is often used to collect other writer's tags, and future plans for bombing and piecing .

Derived terms

* piece together * repiece * unpiece 1000 English basic words ----