Singulative

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. Describing a grammatical form that refers to one individual item from a group or mass, as in languages that mark a single piece of something
2. Relating to a noun form that picks out just one member of a class of things, the way some languages distinguish one grain from grain in general
3. Characterizing a linguistic marker that singles out one unit from a collective noun, contrasting with the collective or mass form

Etymology: "Singulative" is a grammatical term: in linguistics, it describes a form that denotes a single instance of something that is usually mass or plural, such as the "-s" in English "pea" versus "peas" in some languages' systems, or a dedicated suffix marking "one grain" versus "grain" in languages that have one. The word came into English from French "singulatif," and behind that lies Latin "singillatim," meaning "singly" or "one by one." That Latin adverb was built from "singulus," meaning "single" or "separate," which is itself a diminutive formed from the ancient root for "one" and "together" that also gave English words like "simple" and "same" through other routes. So the core idea has always been separation: a thing picked out from a crowd and considered on its own. The English adjective and noun "singulative" are a learned formation, adopted from French and used mainly in grammatical description, rather than a word that circulated in everyday speech.

Synonyms: singular

Antonyms: collective