α. 1500s vnit, 1600s– unit.
β. 1500s–1600s vnite, 1500s–1700s unite.
unitn.adj.
/ˈjuːnɪt/, U.S. /ˈjunət/ A. n.
I. Senses referring to a number.
1. Mathematics.† b. Without article: the number one; a magnitude of one. Obsolete.† c. The abstract quantity of singularity as the basis of all whole numbers. Cf. unity n. 2a. Obsolete.
a. An instance of oneness or singularity, considered as a component of a whole number; (also) an occurrence of the number one in a mathematical expression or calculation; a magnitude of one; (formerly) †a whole number (obsolete). Cf. unity n. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > [noun]
oneeOE
unitya1398
monas1568
unit1570
monad1615
monady1635
henad1677
α.
β. 1588 A. King Ample Declar. Kalendar in tr. P. Canisius Cathechisme or Schort Instr. sig. i. ijv Compte..swa mony epactis as yair is vnites in ye golden nombre.1597 T. Blundeville Exercises (ed. 2) i. vii. f. 12 Such [numbers] as cannot be diuided but that there will remaine some od Unite, those are called Primes.1669 W. Simpson Hydrologia Chymica 226 The great variety the number seven doth produce by the various transposition of its unites.1685 J. Hawkins Cocker's Decimal Arithm. i. 3 If it had been expressed without a point thus (25) it would have signified so many unites.1769 Gentleman's Mag. June 281/1 When the unites exceed the number of their fingers, they pass to another ten.1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. *j Number, we define, to be, a certayne Mathematicall Summe, of Vnits. And, an Vnit, is that thing Mathematicall, Indiuisible, by participation of some likenes of whose property, any thing, which is in deede, or is counted One, may resonably be called One.
1575 Record's Grounde of Artes (rev. ed.) sig. X.ij.v The Denominator doth declare the number of partes into whiche the vnit is diuided.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. vii. xxxiv. 51 The Characteristick of any Logarithme must consist of an Unit less than the given Number consisteth of Digits or Places.
1692 J. Dunton Young-students-libr. 166/2 A Combination of simple Ideas of the same kind, as four, five, which are formed by the Conjunction of a certain number of Units.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Number Cardinal Numbers, those which express the Quantity of Units; as, 1, 2, &c.
1771 W. Thompson Accomptant's Oracle i. 58 After you have divided by the first figure if there be a remainder, it is just so many units as the figure expresses.
1830 R. Murray New Syst. Commerc. Arithm. 290 As 8d. cannot be taken out of 3d., a unit or 1 is taken from the 4s., which being reduced into pence is 12d.
1838 A. De Morgan Ess. Probabilities 33 Write down as many numbers, reckoning downwards, as there are units in the number (m) which are to be in each permutation.
1905 J. C. Stone & J. F. Millis Essentials Algebra App. 23 Positive integers are merely arithmetical numbers, each representing the number of units in a given magnitude.
1961 New Scientist 23 Feb. 492/1 We get a series of pairs of whole numbers (1, 2), (3, 5), (4, 7),…[in which] the differences in successive pairs increase by units.
2013 D. Haylock & P. Warburton Math. for Healthcare Practitioners iii. 36 First, we note what happens when we multiply a number of units by 10. For example, 7 × 10 = 70.
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the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > [noun] > condition of being
onenesseOE
onehoodc1225
unityc1330
onlepihead1340
oneheadc1350
singlertyc1400
onliheada1425
uniona1513
singularity1583
singleness1597
singularness1650
oneship1656
unit1670
onefoldness1674
unicity1691
unitude1841
monadity1844
unitarinessa1866
unitarity1922
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > [noun] > symbol denoting
one?c1425
I1450
unit1670
1670 J. Collins Let. 24 Dec. in I. Newton Corr. (1959) I. 54 Some Instances, in the quadrant of the Circle annexed putting the Radius Unit, the Arch z is given to find the Sine x or Cosine y.
1717 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 30 618 The Logarithm of Unite is nothing; and..the nearer any Number is to Unite, the nearer will its Logarithm be to 0.
1823 T. Jefferson Writings (1830) IV. 364 In the proportion of a million at least to unit.
1864 Trans. Royal Soc. Edinb. 23 745 To construct a rational trigon having one angle 120°, and of which the containing sides may differ by unit.
1871 J. R. Young O'Gorman's Intuitive Calculations (ed. 24) 21 The third mode of proceeding is always applicable to any multiplier, of three significant figures, in which the first figure is unit.
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the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > particular qualities > whole
unitya1398
integer1571
integrum1594
roundnessa1654
unit1679
lateral1706
natural number1763
natural1971
1679 J. Moxon Math. made Easie 162 An Unite is the beginning of Number, and..receiveth no division in Numbers, even as a Point in Magnitudes.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture II. 89/1 If, as some affirm, the unite be no number, but only the source of all others.
2. Mathematics. Each of the parts (equal to one) of a whole number which are left as a remainder after its division by ten (or by the base (base n.1 20) of a non-decimal system of notation), represented in the expression of that number by the digit in the rightmost position (and immediately to the left of a decimal point where this is present). Usually in plural. Cf. ten n. 1b. See also Compounds 1b.
ΚΠ
1571 Record's Grounde of Artes (rev. ed.) i. ii. sig. Rviiv The first place is the place of vnits or ones, and euery counter set in that line betokeneth but one: and the seconde line is the place of 10.
1633 [see Compounds 1a]. 1678 J. Hawkins Cocker's Arithm. i. 6 A degree consists of three figures, (viz.) of three places comprehending Units Tens and Hundreds.
1714 S. Cunn New Treat. Fractions 62 Repetends that begin at the same place, whether at Units, Primes, Seconds.
1828 Z. Thompson Thompson's New Arithm. (improved ed.) 89 We are unable to take 0.5 from 0.2; we therefore borrow a unit from the 3 units.
1849 R. Putnam Common-school Arithm. xiii. 195 The root must contain 2 figures, tens and units.
1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 527/1 [In arithmetical notation] the figure placed furthest to the right has the same significance as when it stands alone, i.e. it represents units.
1982 New Scientist 22 Apr. 221/2 The position of a digit shows whether it is a unit, a ten or a hundred in the usual way.
1983 A. Greer New Comprehensive Math. for ‘O’ Level (ed. 2) 372/1 Note that..4 + 5 = 13 in the base 6, i.e., one six and three units.
2000 V. Koshy et al. Math. for Primary Teachers 35 Multiply 4 tens by 8 = 320; then multiply the units 6 × 8 = 48.
II. Senses referring to a part or section.
3.
a. An individual person, thing, or group regarded as single and complete; each of the (smallest) separate individuals or groups into which a complex whole may be analysed.family unit, lexical unit, meaning-unit, morpheme unit, neighbourhood unit, social unit, speech-unit, verse-unit, etc.: see the first element.
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the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > [noun] > one thing > one of several
particular1592
unit1600
singular1640
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > constituent part or component > single element of collective whole
piece1473
unit1600
module1946
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > pattern or design > [noun] > types of pattern or design generally
Morisk1341
Moresque1458
arabesque1656
Morisco1728
all-over1808
Moresco1823
shawl-pattern1838
repeat pattern1851
repeat1855
unit1855
styling1867
counterchange1888
oriental1897
mosaicking1923
scenic1956
1600 C. Tourneur Transformed Metamorph. sig. A3v For should I seeke by vnites to begin, To point at all that in their sinne do lie.
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. F8 In number, measure, weight, he all things made; Each unite he dissevers by his Art.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. xii. 74 Which collective Ideas of several Substances thus put together, are as much each of them one single Idea, as that of a Man, or an Unite.
1716 M. Davies Athenæ Britannicæ II. To Rdr. 13 Some few Despicable Unadditionable Units or Unitarians.
1739 D. Hume Treat. Human Nature I. ii. 60 'Tis evident, that existence in itself belongs only to unity, and is never applicable to number, but on account of the unites, of which the number is compos'd.
1847 G. Grote Hist. Greece IV. ii. xxviii. 68 The village is a fraction, but the city is an unit.
1855 R. N. Wornum Anal. Ornament 18 Units of repetition, or repeats of irregular shapes, arranged diagonally.
1856 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire IV. xl. 459 Our history becomes a review of the affairs of a vast unit, the aggregate of a multitude of smaller members.
1872 H. C. Bastian Beginnings of Life I. 216 Before a nucleus is evolved.., the simple living unit (plastide) is able to assimilate nutritive material and grow.
1932 A. H. Gardiner Theory of Speech & Lang. i. 26 The unit of speech is the sentence.
1963 A. Heron Towards Quaker View of Sex 56 This taboo is of social origin, designed to protect the basic unit of society—the ‘nuclear’ family—from disintegration.
1964 R. H. Robins Gen. Linguistics iv. 155 The nine separate phonemes..are maintained as distinctive units by six features.
2009 P. Lintott & N. Lintott Layer Cake, Jelly Roll & Charm Quilts 16 The quilt is made up of two different blocks, both formed from four of the units.
b. A manufactured device with a specific function, typically forming part of a larger or more complex one. Often with preceding distinguishing word.arithmetic (and logic) unit, bellows unit, garbage disposal unit, loudspeaker unit, etc.: see the first element.
ΚΠ
1904 Westm. Gaz. 30 Mar. 2/1 A reason for utilising the gas-engine as a large-size power unit for central engine work.
1938 J.-B. O. Sneeden Introd. Internal Combustion Engin. (new ed.) viii. 151 One pump unit of the single or multi-cylinder type supplies the fuel.
1943 Sci. & Mech. Spring 51/1 The photo-tube in the unit is focused on a street light outside the shop.
1991 Pract. Householder Apr. 59/2 A neon indicator light on the faceplate..lights up when the unit is supplying current.
2001 Which Kit? May 21/2 A special package..allows the unit to be neatly installed in any front engined rear-wheel-drive car.
4.
a. A subdivision of a larger military grouping.army unit, artillery unit, roulement unit, tactical unit, tank destroyer unit, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > unit of army > [noun]
companyc1325
compartment1590
brigade1637
detachment1678
contingent1728
unit1861
crowd1901
crush1904
mahalla1906
outfit1909
mob1916
serial1941
1861 J. L. Davis Trooper's Man. 140 A Squadron is composed of 4 platoons, and is the proper tactical unit of Cavalry.
1871 Fraser's Mag. Apr. 476/1 Each military unit to consist of fixed quotas of Line, Militia, and Volunteers, subdivided in permanent brigades with staff detailed.
1899 Times 14 Oct. 9 A waterproof bag which is left at the base in charge of the storeman on a unit going into action.
1943 Hutchinson's Pict. Hist. War 4 Aug. 21/2 Evacuation of some of the enemy's forces, harassed by allied aircraft and naval units, has already begun.
1962 Irish Times 2 Feb. 4 The Indian Government is sending more units to the already heavy army concentration in the area.
2001 S. Wheeler Cherry (2003) ix. 183 He kept in touch with the men who had served in his unit as best he could.
b. A relatively autonomous team of people working within a larger organization.armed response unit, film unit, research unit, script unit, strategic business unit, etc.: see the first element.
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > filming > filming unit or team > [noun]
unit1914
film crew1919
film unit1922
production team1944
crew1954
1914 Banking Law Jrnl. June 439 The tellers in the other units keep out only enough cash to meet the day's demands.
1962 L. Davidson Rose of Tibet i. 26 Location work would have finished in Calcutta and..the unit would have moved up into the foothills of Everest.
1986 Ambio 15 294/1 The Asian Bank established an international environmental unit in 1981, staffed by two environmental specialists.
2000 Computerworld 14 Aug. 12/5 There is little collaboration across units during the design phase.
2010 B. F. Fradkin Beautiful lie Dead x. 115 The major crimes unit was short-staffed and in considerable disarray. The head of the unit..was still on sick leave.
5.
a. A group of buildings or rooms in a hospital or other institution which have a specific function or provide a particular type of care.critical care unit, intensive-care unit, maternity unit, mobile unit, recovery unit, rehabilitation unit, segregation unit, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > hospital department
unit1862
1862 Rep. Proc. Church Congr. 1862 84 The Ward-Unit, the general arrangement of the nurses' rooms, kitchens, and offices, of ventilation and of warming, were described.
1863 Jackson's Oxf. Jrnl. 28 Nov. 6/1 Such an unit comprises the ward itself, with closets, bath room, nurses' room, scullery, nurses' closet, and other lesser appliances.
1918 Arch. Radiol. & Electrotherapy 23 226 The new unit is primarily intended for use in what is known as ‘deep therapy’.
1954 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 293 79/1 The sternest warden..would need such a secure unit for not more than 25 per cent of all his prisoners.
1965 Nursing Times 5 Feb. p. vi/1 (advt.) Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit..Regional Thoracic Surgical Unit.
2000 Times 20 Jan. 37/4 Meanwhile, back on the unit a patient in his forties is being prepared to be taken for a CT scan of his chest.
b. Originally U.S. A self-contained section of a building or group of buildings intended for separate occupation; spec. (New Zealand and Australian) = home unit n. at home n.1 and adj. Compounds 2.business unit, housing unit, etc.: see the first element.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > suite of rooms > [noun]
wonesc1325
chambers1598
suite1716
suit1721
sweep1751
garden suite1875
unit1917
1917 Amer. Architect 30 May 341/2 In a modified form known as the..saw tooth arrangement of separate units, the plan is adaptable..for the housing of many families.
1963 D. B. Hughes Expendable Man ii. 46 No one was waiting for him at the motel. No one stopped him at the door of his unit.
1973 Sun-Herald (Sydney) 26 Aug. 103/1 We live in a unit in a delinquency-prone inner area.
1992 J. Young Nico (1999) 184 A record company, located in a unit on an industrial estate somewhere in South London.
2007 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 21 Sept. 94/1 In all, 52 of the 63 two-bedroom units have sold off-the-plan.
6. Chiefly Business and Economics. A single manufactured item.
ΚΠ
1885 S. Newcomb Princ. Polit. Econ. iii. iv. 239 If, as a result of the increased demand, 3000 units were produced,..it would show that there was no effective monopoly.
1940 Wall St. Jrnl. 5 Jan. 11/6 Domestic sales of household electric refrigerators in November..totaled 51,258 units compared with 29,952 units..in November, 1938.
1983 Chain Store Age (Nexis) Jan. (Gen. Merchandise ed.) 111 The basic Atari systems may be the strongest-selling units, but all buyers are looking for exceptionally strong growth from more sophisticated games and consoles.
2007 Sunday Times (Nexis) 25 Feb. (Eire Business and Money section) 9 We shipped 3m units last quarter and achieved 90% year-on-year growth.
7.
a. A piece of (esp. storage) furniture which may be fitted with other pieces to form a larger system, or which is made from smaller matching pieces designed to be used together.book unit, kitchen unit, sink unit, storage unit, vanity unit, wall unit, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > [noun] > types of furniture generally > piece of
encoignure1848
Chippendale1875
unit1899
Victorian1905
island1932
sectional1961
1899 Electr. World & Engineer 14 Oct. 603/1 A Globe-Wernicke ‘Elastic’ cabinet, made up of units or sections, was carried out unit by unit without disturbing the contents, and saved in perfect condition.
1904 Mich. Alumnus June 423/2 The bookcases are of the sectional type. One set of units contain theses.
1944 J. van Druten Voice of Turtle i. 3 The kitchen has an icebox, stove and sink in a combined unit in the left wall.
1958 Engineering 7 Mar. 320/2 The cooking unit..is mounted on top of a storage cupboard with a sliding serving shelf.
2010 Jewish Chron. 15 Oct. (Health & Wellbeing Suppl.) 10/2 Each beautiful apartment has a fitted kitchen with height-adjustable units.
b. A piece of audio or video equipment, such as an amplifier, record turntable, speaker, etc., designed to be combined with other matching pieces to form a sound system or home entertainment system. Cf. unit audio n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > sound recording or reproducing equipment > [noun]
talking machine1844
recorder1867
phonograph1877
dictating machine1878
melograph1879
melodiographa1884
graphophone1886
photographophone1901
auxetophone1904
Dictaphone1906
telediphone1931
transcriber1931
wire recorder1934
sound truck1936
high fidelity1938
Soundscriber1946
player1948
rig1950
transcriptor1957
unit1966
sequencer1975
boom box1981
ghetto blaster1983
beat-box1985
1966 Financial Times 15 Oct. 7/6 The set can be bought all at once or piece by piece and Ferguson guarantees to keep the units in production for from five to seven years.
1974 Gramophone Nov. 1009 The connoisseur takes pride in choosing separate units.
2007 San Diego Mag. Feb. 19 The..touchscreen controls all audio and visual units.
8.
a. A railway car having its own means of propulsion; a locomotive. Cf. multiple-unit adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > locomotive > railway carriage incorporating engine
unit1902
motor coach1923
power car1936
multiple-unit1963
1902 Current Encycl. Apr. 1235/1 The system of propulsion employed is that of locomotive control and would be probably considered somewhat antiquated in the United States, where the system of multiple units—trains made up wholly of motor cars all under control of one motorman—is now generally in use.
1959 D. P. Morgan in P. Ransome-Wallis Conc. Encycl. World Railway Locomotives ii. 130/1 The unit..worked on six roads and in open-pit mining service, hauling trains ranging from 2,000 to 4,500 tons.
2000 W. D. Middleton Yet there isn't Train I wouldn't Take 82 We lost more time at San Rafael while three extra diesel units were cut off our train.
b. New Zealand. A diesel or electric multiple-unit suburban passenger train.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [noun]
locomotive engine1814
locomotive1829
power vehicle1901
train1904
unit1938
shunter1949
1938 Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) 27 Apr. 9/2 (caption) The London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company's 75 h.p. ‘Limousine’ light experimental Diesel unit, an example of modern streamlining, beside a steam locomotive.
1970 Landfall 24 216 The unit was crammed full, women in the seats and the aisles sticky with children.
1983 M. Gee Sole Survivor xx. 210 In the afternoon I caught a unit out to Simla Crescent.
2014 Dominion Post (Wellington, N.Z.) (Nexis) 28 May 1 Fewer than half of the Matangi units are running as delays continue.
9. U.S. A motor vehicle, (now) esp. a police car.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > motor car > [noun] > police car
police cruiser1858
police car1881
prowl car1922
cruiser1929
unit1929
patrol car1931
scout car1933
squad car1938
Z-car1961
black and white1965
panda1966
squad1974
1929 Joplin (Missouri) Globe 12 July 11 It is a 1928 Chrysler ‘72’ Sedan and such a good looking unit.
1969 Field & Stream Mar. 54/1 I drove this unit for a couple of years, until chassis-mount campers came on the scene.
1980 J. Ball Then came Violence xviii. 170 I picked up a plain unit to help in the search.
2004 S. J. Cannell Vertical Coffin 256 If two units both have their sirens on, they can't hear one another.
III. Senses referring to a unit of measurement.
10.
a. A quantity, dimension, or magnitude adopted as a standard in terms of which the magnitude of other quantities of the same kind can be expressed or calculated.absolute unit, astronomical unit, atomic mass unit, British Thermal Unit, Debye unit, gravitational unit, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > [noun] > that by which one measures > unit of measurement
measurec1384
modulea1628
standard1646
unit1681
base unit1867
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > conformity to or with a pattern, etc. > [noun] > a standard or norm > of quantity or dimension
unit1681
1681 R. Wood in Philos. Coll. (Royal Soc.) No. 2. 27 This Al-mon-ac measures Time principally by the Moon, but with a great and near respect to the annual motion of the Sun or Earth: The Unite or least Measure is a Day.
1738 E. Chambers Cycl. (ed. 2) at Degree Thus, a degree, as being the integer or unite, is denoted by °.
1782 R. Morris & G. Morris Let. 15 Jan. in T. Jefferson Papers (1953) VII. 166 The Money Unit of a new Coin to agree without a Fraction with all these different Values of a Dollar..will be the fourteen hundred and fortieth Part of a Dollar.
1814 J. Playfair Outl. Nat. Philos. II. i. xiii. 209 Hitherto, the distance of the Sun from the Earth has served as the unit, by which we have measured all other distances in the planetary system.
1867 H. M. Noad Text Bk. Electr. 201 The unit of a current conveys a unit of electricity through the circuit in a unit of time.
1886 J. Ruskin Præterita I. x. 323 Musical people..have not yet fixed their unit of time.
1936 R. S. Glasgow Princ. Radio Engin. vii. 171 Since the decibel is a logarithmic unit, the total gain of an amplifier can be conveniently found by adding together the gains of the individual stages.
1960 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. VII. 347/1 The kilogram is also sometimes defined as a unit of force, that is, the weight of a 1-kilogram mass.
2007 E. N. Parker Conversat. Electric & Magn. Fields Cosmos ii. 16 Choose the unit of charge so that the proportionality constant is unity.
b. A substance adopted as a standard in comparison to which some particular property (spec. atomic weight or relative density) of other substances can be expressed. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > [noun] > specific gravity > substance by which estimated
unit1809
1809 Eclectic Rev. May 438 These numbers may be conceived to represent the relative weights of an integrant particle of each of these substances, compared with hydrogen as unit.
1829 Chapters Physical Sci. 169 As water is taken as the unit for solids and liquids, so is atmospheric air for gases.
1869 C. H. Gill Chem. for Schools xxii. 274 Dalton..adopted it [sc. hydrogen] as the unit or standard of atomic weight.
1920 F. W. Clarke Data Geochem. (ed. 4) i. 22 The mass of the atmosphere..is equivalent to that of 1,268,000 cubic miles of water, the unit of density.
c. Biology and Pharmacology. The quantity of a drug, enzyme, or other biologically active substance required to produce a specific effect in a specific assay (regarded as a measure of activity or potency). Frequently with distinguishing word.international unit, Oxford unit, penicillin unit, Scoville unit, etc.: see the first element.
ΚΠ
1894 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 22 Sept. 667/1 The standard solution or immunity units being a serum 0.1 c.c. of which will protect a guinea-pig inoculated with ten times the fatal dose.
1932 Brit. Pharmacopœia 607 The volume of antitoxin in the mixture, which causes the death of a guinea-pig after an interval of four days, contains 1 Unit.
1968 New Eng. Jrnl. Med. 11 Jan. 72/2 Serial samples of ascitic fluid were obtained after 500,000 units of penicillin were given intravenously, and ascitic-fluid penicillin levels were determined.
1996 Phytopathology 86 1255/1 Up to 1.3 enzyme units of polygalacturonase (PG), 9 microequivalents of NaOH, which express the activity of pectin methyl esterase (PME), and up to 1.5 units of lyase (PL) were detected on bean leaves.
2013 G. D. Pickar & A. P. Abernethy Dosage Calculations (ed. 9) xvii. 519 With the concentration of heparin solution used for this protocol, each mL infused will contain 100 units of heparin.
11. One kilowatt-hour, as the unit used in measuring and charging for electricity used. Also: a standard measure used in charging for telephone calls, mains water services, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical power, electricity > [noun] > one thousand watts > commercial unit
unit1886
Kelvin1892
kilowatt-hour1892
Board of Trade unit1913
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > [noun] > unit used for metered calls
unit1961
1886 S. P. Thompson Dynamo-electric Machinery (ed. 2) vi. 111 The output of the above-mentioned machine would therefore be briefly expressed as 8 Board-of-Trade units, or more simply as 8 units.
1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 344/3 Electric radiators... Two bars..consumes 2 units per hour when full-on.
1961 Which? Dec. 334/1 Local and trunk calls are divided into 2d. ‘units’, the amount of the time you get for your 2d. depending on the distance.
1972 Daily Tel. 12 May (Colour Suppl.) 15/1 Food freezers are inexpensive to run, using about 2 units of electricity for each cubic foot per week.
1998 Daily Tel. 17 Sept. (Connected section) 7/2 The Post Office, and then BT, used to bill all calls in units of fixed price (eg 5p), but whose duration depended on distance and time of day.
2005 R. M. Boyce & A. Masterman Plumbing: Pract. Guide for Level 2 ii. 73/1 In the digital meter, the units used are shown by a row of figures.
12. Education (originally U.S.).
a. A measure of educational attainment credited to a student for completing the number of hours of study assigned to one section of a course. Cf. credit n. 15b.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > educational administration > examination > [noun] > marks > point or credit
credit1862
unit1894
point1903
1894 Univ. of Chicago Weekly 4 Oct. 4/1 The system of majors and minors, units and flunks, is harder to understand than any other ‘credit’ method in operation among educational institutions.
1930 A. Flexner Universities ii. 47 When a college catalogue states that fifteen units of high school work are required for matriculation, a unit, as defined by the College Entrance Examination Board, represents one year's study in any one subject in a high school.
1974 Aiken (S. Carolina) Standard 18 Apr. 4- c/3 Their required 18 units of study.
2002 Church Times 11 Oct. 19/1 Each A2 is divided into three units, and contributes the remaining 50 per cent of a full GCE A Level.
b. A self-contained section of a course. Cf. Branch A. II.
ΚΠ
1913 Ann. Rep. Comm. Educ. 1912 (U.S. Bureau Educ.) I. x. 295 The most promising plan would seem to be a course which provides for a series of evening unit courses, each unit dealing with some specific phase of the special instruction required for an efficient teacher.
1923 Elementary School Jrnl. 24 120 In the unit dealing with rocks as records of the earth's history, striated rocks and granites are discussed as evidences of glaciation and vulcanism, respectively.
1941 W. L. Beauchamp Teacher's Guidebk. Sci. Problems p. i In Book One the unit on magnets (Unit 7) is not related to other units of Book One.
1991 Teaching German 24 156/1 This article describes a course unit on Goethe's Werther designed according to the method of discussion teaching.
2007 K. T. Glass Curriculum Mapping i. 10 It allows teachers to..implement different approaches to teaching a unit.
13. Finance. A group of securities forming the smallest measure of investment in an investment trust or unit trust (unit trust n. (a) at Compounds 2).accumulation unit: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [noun] > investment trust > smallest measure of investment in
unit1908
1908 Los Angeles Financier 19 Sept. 203/2 The Wolverton [building] was unitized for $600,000 and the units are now held at $1,200.
1930 Economist 8 Nov. 865/2 Participation in the [fixed] trust takes the form of certificates..specifying a fractional interest in a block or unit of the fixed common stocks held by the trust company.
1959 Times 14 Jan. 13/6 Early Unit Trusts had a fixed unit of investment... Unit certificates were issued only against successive deposits of a fixed portfolio of securities, the unit of investment.
1988 Which? Way to Save & Invest (ed. 3) xvi. 281 When you invest in a unit trust you buy units in the trust from the management company.
2014 EY Tax Guide (ed. 29) xxxix. 873 As an investor you purchase units that represent an ownership in the trust assets.
14. In the United Kingdom: the standard unit of quantity by which bread and petrol were rationed during and immediately after the Second World War (1939–45); a coupon of this value. Now historical.See also bread unit n. at bread n. Compounds 4.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > paper money > promissory notes or bills of exchange > [noun] > coupon > exchangeable for standard quantity
unit1939
B.U.1946
1939 Times 5 Sept. 5/1 The coupons in the ration books represent units of petrol.
1939 Punch 18 Oct. 439 (caption) I can't move on—I've used up all my units.
1946 Manch. Guardian 28 June 5/2 It will cost two bread units to buy a small loaf.
1948 Daily Tel. 26 Oct. 5 Nine Hundred Petrol Units were stolen from an office at Swanley, Kent.
1963 S. Cooper in M. Sissons & P. French Age of Austerity ii. 41 The Bread Unit represented seven ounces of bread... A large loaf..would require four Units, one pound of flour three Units.
2005 M. J. Brayley Brit. Home Front 25 Half this number of units were allowed for a motorcycle of up to 250cc.
15. British. The approximate amount of alcohol contained in a standard small alcoholic drink, esp. in the context of a person's recommended maximum intake of alcohol.For the purposes of various studies a unit has usually been taken to equal 8–10 g of pure alcohol; this is equivalent to the alcohol in a half-pint of beer at 3.5% ABV or a 25 ml measure of spirits at 40% ABV.
ΚΠ
1976 S. E. Dight Sc. Drinking Habits iii. 40 The table overleaf gives the comparable quantities of each type of beverage which approximate to 9 grammes of absolute alcohol, defined by us as one alcoholic unit.
1989 R. R. Watson Diagnosis of Alcohol Abuse xiv. 238 Of the 1,945 male excessive drinkers (consuming more than 35 units of alcohol per week) 46% expressed concern about their drinking.
1992 Which? Dec. 29/1 A unit is a measure of alcohol; the number of units varies for different drinks.
2004 Red Oct. 308/2 Two or three units (or glasses) a day is fine, but if you save it up for one big binge a week, you're possibly doing yourself harm.
Forming a distinct unit; individual. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > [adjective] > existing as one thing
monadical1642
monadic1788
unitary1803
unit1870
1870 J. H. Newman Ess. Gram. Assent i. i. 7 All things in the exterior world are unit and individual;..the mind contemplates these unit realities as they exist.
Phrases
unit of account: a monetary unit used for the keeping of accounts.A unit of account may not necessarily correspond to any coins or notes in circulation (see, e.g., quots. 1882 and 1977).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > standards and values of currencies > [noun] > money of account > unit of
unit of account1797
1797 Encycl. Brit. XII. 219/1 Every variation in the value of the unit of account [must] affect all persons..who are obliged to receive sums of money stipulated in multiples..of that money-unit.
1821 T. Jefferson Autobiogr. in Writings (1892) I. 74 I proposed..to adopt the Dollar as our Unit of account and payment.
1882 R. Bithell Counting-house Dict. 311 Unit of Account, the unit of value in which accounts are kept. It may, or may not, coincide with any coin in circulation... The Anglo-Saxon unit of account was the shilling..but no coin called a shilling was issued before the reign of Henry VII.
1973 Physics Bull. Apr. 207/1 The four year allocation for direct research work amounts to 157·2 million units of account ( ua, equal to the predevaluation US dollar, ie about £65m).
1977 Times 6 Dec. (Europa Suppl.) p. iii/6 Units of account, embryonic European currency used as a device for calculating the EEC budget, fixing farm prices and in certain transactions with non-Community countries. The value of the unit of account in national currencies depends on the purpose for which it is being used.
2014 Washington Post (Nexis) 20 Jan. a15 Bitcoins flunk as a store of value and unit of account.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive (in various senses).
ΚΠ
1633 W. Forster tr. W. Oughtred Addition Circles Proportion i. 3 The number mixed of integers and parts be written together in one ranke, with a small rectangular line drawne next after the Vnite place, cutting off the parts from the Integers.
1705 J. Ayres Arithmetick (ed. 8) v. 74 Then Multiply 7, the Unit Figure of your Divisor, by 8.
1798 R. Hamilton Short Syst. Arithm. & Book-keeping 3 The first six figures from the right hand are called the unit period; the next the million period.
1859 H. C. Watson Cybele Britannica IV. 52 The segregate species of the present day are treated as unit-species under names which are now the names of aggregates.
a1881 A. Barratt Physical Metempiric (1883) 115 If the unit minds were parts or modes of this absolute mind.
1898 Sir W. Crookes in Daily News 8 Sept. 6/1 The consumption of wheat per head of the population (unit consumption) was over 6 bushels per annum.
1912 L. Weaver House & its Equipm. 44 The unit system of bookcases, by which they are built up of sections of standard size, and are thus capable of indefinite expansion.
1932 F. L. Wright Autobiogr. ii. 223 I lingered in Los Angeles aided by my son Lloyd working on the new unit-block system.
1978 Lancashire Life Oct. 115/2 Fourteen interchangeable items, made up of Chesterfields, unit pieces, settees, recliner chair, wing chair, [etc.].
1983 R. N. Boyd Sex behind Bars (1984) 41 Dusty, the unit porter, was responsible for telling the guards which cells to open at which time.
2002 Philadelphia Inquirer 15 Dec. h6/2 ‘Of course Survivor interferes with the environment,’ says unit manager Dick Beckett.
b. attributive with first element in plural form (in sense A. 2) with the sense ‘relating to or representing the units in the expression of a number’, as units digit, units figure, units place, units position, etc.; also in compounds with units' with the same sense, as units' digit, units' place, etc.Cf. quots. 1633, 1705 at Compounds 1a.
ΚΠ
1674 J. Mayne Socius Mercatoris 16 Begin as before with the Unites place, and say, 8 times 6 is 48, set down 8 and carry 4.
1733 H. Gore Vulgar Arithm. Improved 31 I begin with the Units Figure of the Subtractor, and take it from the Units Figure of the Subtrahend.
1750 Q. Mackenzie-Quin Method to multiply or divide Figures 15 The Units Digit, as it neither multiplies nor divides any other Figure,..the Reader is presumed to multiply the Units Line in the Vulgar Way.
1827 Arithm. & Algebra (Libr. Useful Knowl.) 17/2 The term farthest to the left, that is, the units' digit.
1895 Proc. Museums Assoc. 1894 168 The 26th specimen would then be labelled ‘aa’, the tens position of ordinary numeration being occupied by ‘a’, and the units position by ‘a’.
1919 Pop. Sci. Monthly Aug. 48/1 To record the number 1, the bookkeeper made one knot in the units place, two knots for the number two, and so on.
1932 Elem. School Jrnl. 32 600 In the increase-by-one method, when the units' figure of the divisor is 6 or more, the tens' digit is increased by one.
1965 I. Niven Math. of Choice ii. 15 A number is odd if its units digit is odd, i.e. if the digit in the units' place is one of 1, 3, 5,7, 9.
2010 G. J. Lee Professional Cocoa Applic. Security iii. 65 Each letter represents a binary 1 and each hyphen a binary 0, with x in the units position, w in the 2s position and r in the 4s position.
c. attributive (in sense A. 10a) with the sense ‘equivalent in magnitude to that constituting a unit; consisting of or forming a unit’, as unit force, unit length, unit weight, etc.
ΚΠ
1809 W. Nicholson Brit. Encycl. III. at Gramme The unit weight, called a gramme, is the weight of the cube of the hundredth part of the metre of distilled water.
1839 H. M. Noad Course Eight Lect. i. 31 A very useful little electrical instrument..for registering the exact quantity of electricity given to a Leyden phial from the machine; it is called the unit jar.
1866 R. M. Ferguson Electricity 17 A magnetic needle, of unit size and strength.
1873 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magnetism II. 3 The unit-pole is a pole which points north, and is such that, when placed at unit distance from another unit-pole, it repels it with unit of force.
1876 P. G. Tait Lect. Recent Adv. in Physical Sci. (ed. 2) xiv. 357 Unit force is..that force which, whatever be its source, produces unit momentum in unit of time.
1925 H. C. Booth tr. F. Auerbach Mod. Magnetics (U.K. ed.) vii. 158 The number of windings per unit length is greater on the inner side.
1982 A. Pais Subtle is Lord 24 A fundamental particle with zero mass and unit spin.
1993 R. L. Zimdahl Fund. Weed Sci. 438/1 The amount of active ingredient applied to a unit area.
2009 J. B. Wachtman et al. Mech. Properties Ceramics (ed. 2) xxii. 416 The wear rate of the pin can be measured by the weight loss per unit length of travel along the disk.
C2.
unit audio n. now historical a sound system which comprises separate matching parts (amplifier, tape recorder, etc.) designed to be used together.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > sound recording or reproducing equipment > [noun] > record-playing equipment
phonograph1877
gramophone1887
Victrola1905
record player1913
box1916
radio phonograph1922
phono1925
Panatrope1926
radio-gramophone1927
radiogram1929
hi-fi1938
player1948
music centre1956
lo-fi1957
stereogram1958
gram1959
mid-fi1960
stereo1964
unit audio1966
wind-up1975
1966 Financial Times 15 Oct. 7/6 Ferguson's ‘Unit Audio’ is a really well-designed range of sound equipment which will harmonise in almost any room.
1976 Gramophone Nov. 880/1 People without expert knowledge will generally find it easier to buy a ‘unit audio’ system made up from matching units from the same manufacturer.
2000 Pract. Classics June 45/1 Dig out the flares and the flowery ties. Exhume the unit audio and the first Genesis album.
unit cell n. Crystallography the smallest structure from which, by stacking in three dimensions, a given crystal lattice can be formed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystal (general) > crystal lattice > [noun] > building units of
unit cell1907
1907 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 79 374 We do not yet know the relations of the free space and the actual matter in the unit cell.
1966 C. R. Tottle Sci. Engin. Materials iii. 50 In many cases it is convenient to avoid drawing the complete crystal lattice extended over many unit cells, and merely to draw the unit cell itself.
2010 E. J. Mittemeijer Fund. Materials Sci. iv. 198 The composition and the density of a unit cell are equal to the composition and density of the whole crystal.
unit character n. Genetics (now historical). a characteristic inherited according to Mendelian laws.The concept was developed before a clear distinction had been made between genotype and phenotype, and was abandoned once the complexity of their relationship was realized. Cf. unit factor n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > heredity or hereditary descent > [noun] > inherited quality or constitution
draught1483
strind?a1513
patrimonya1578
strain1605
inheritance1613
hereditament1795
stripe1861
stock1866
unit character1902
the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > genetic components > [noun] > allele > types of allele
dominant1900
unit character1902
multiple allelomorph1913
lethal1917
marker1930
multiple allele1930
amorph1932
hypomorph1932
neomorph1932
isoallele1943
hypermorph1949
1902 W. Bateson & E. R. Saunders Rep. to Evol. Comm. Royal Soc. No. 1. 126 The purity of the germ-cells, and their inability to transmit both of the antagonistic characters, is the central fact proved by Mendel's work. We thus reach the conception of unit-characters existing in antagonistic pairs. Such characters we propose to call allelomorphs.
1915 T. H. Morgan et al. Mechanism Mendelian Heredity ix. 210 So much misunderstanding has arisen amongst geneticists themselves through the careless use of the term ‘unit character’ that the term deserves the disrepute into which it is falling.
1945 M. F. Glaessner Princ. Micropalaeontol. v. 79 The numerical values of morphological features (unit characters) plotted against numbers of specimens in which the progressive values occur, tend to arrange themselves in a regular curve.
1966 E. A. Carlson Gene ii. 13 The unit-character [of Bateson] combined the ‘differentiating character’ used by Mendel with the ‘formative element’ which he assumed to represent it in the germ cell.
2003 L. Moss What Genes can't Do i. 24 He adhered to a simple preformationist view of the unit-character which obviated any need for a more elaborate developmental story.
unit circle n. Mathematics a circle having a radius of one unit.
ΚΠ
1852 Cambr. & Dublin Math. Jrnl. 7 134 The imaginary unit in the solution of (II.) has the same reference to an unit circle, as that in the solution of (III.) has to an unit sphere.
1920 Amer. Mineralogist 5 71 Draw the unit circle and horizontal and vertical diameters, dividing the circle into quadrants.
2014 Tampa Bay (Florida) Times (Nexis) 20 Mar. (TBTwo section) 6 This year, Ladd sported a watch with the unit circle on it in terms of pi rather than actual numbers.
unit commander n. the commander of a military unit.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > [noun] > leader or commander of specific unit
company commander1820
unit commander1890
squadron commander1907
patrol leader1908
1890 Jrnl. Mil. Service Inst. U.S. 11 485 It is absolutely essential..that immediate communication shall be possible between the groups and the unit commanders.
1940 Times 20 Dec. 4/3 Staff leaders and unit commanders have done their duty famously.
2010 New Yorker 1 Nov. 50/2 Some N.S.A. unit commanders..concluded that the break-in was caused by a disabling thumb driver.
unit construction n. (a) a method of construction involving the assembly of a relatively small number of discrete units; (b) a system of constructing a building in which a standard length forms the basis for its dimensions (see module n. 8).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > [noun] > manner of construction > specific
post and pan1517
superedification1610
superstructing1654
trabeation1831
post and petrail1867
post and tan1890
skeleton construction1891
flat-slab construction1906
unit construction1909
prefabrication1932
site assembly1941
sandwich construction1944
post and panel1954
prefabbing1954
post and beam1958
jettying1963
system building1964
biotecture1966
timber-framing1967
post and plaster1997
Passivhaus1998
1909 Hutchinson (Kansas) News 13 Nov. 12/4 (advt.) Three-point suspension, unit construction throughout and only three units to entire chassis.
1921 Conquest May 291/2 Houses built on the ‘Unit’ construction system... The concrete blocks are made of a standard size, the dimensions of windows and door openings being made multiples of the block size.
1964 McCall's Sewing in Colour ii. 33/1 Unit construction, organisation of sewing procedure so that an entire garment section is completed before it is joined to another.
1998 N. Jackson in A. Cunningham Mod. Movement Heritage xvi. 138 An attitude towards house manufacture which promoted offsite prefabrication, modular planning and unit-construction.
unit cost n. Accounting the cost of producing or purchasing one item of manufacture, calculated by dividing the total expenditure by the total number of items.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > [noun] > expenses > of production or manufacturing
cost of production1815
unit cost1902
factor cost1936
variable cost1953
1902 Washington Post 13 May 12/4 Is it possible or desirable to keep accounts of work in progress in such a manner as to ascertain unit costs on each class of work?
1914 E. H. Jones Unit Constr. Costs from New Smelter 1498 These unit costs..represent delays in material shipments.., delayed plans,..labor troubles, [etc.].
1997 J. Hagel & A. G. Armstrong Net.gain i. iii. 62 Increasing returns help to accelerate revenue growth. They also help to drive down unit costs over time.
unit cube n. (a) (Mathematics) a cube having sides equal to one unit in length; (b) (Crystallography) a cubic arrangement of atoms forming the basic structural unit of a crystalline structure.
ΚΠ
1827 G. Birkbeck tr. C. Dupin Math. appl. Useful & Fine Arts vii. 124 As many times as the base of each portion contains the base of the unit cube [Fr. la base de ce cube], so many times will the small cube be contained in the portion.
1929 Pop. Sci. Monthly Dec. 50/1 Inside the unit cube would be four other carbon atoms, arranged to form..a tetrahedron.
2006 D. Tahta Fifteen Schoolgirls v. 99 Consider the representation of a (4,2,3) configuration with 8 elements represented by the 8 vertices of a unit cube.
2014 C. Hall Materials: Very Short Introd. i. 2 Knowing the wavelength of the X-rays, we can calculate accurately the size of the unit cube.., the edge of which for gold is 0.41 nanometre.
unit factor n. (a) a numerical factor by which a quantity expressed in terms of one unit must be multiplied to obtain its expression in terms of another unit; (b) Genetics (now historical) a gene, esp. one that controls the inheritance of a unit character (cf. factor n. 8b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > genetic components > [noun] > gene
unit factor1886
id1892
gene1909
1886 E. Atkinson tr. A. Ganot Elem. Treat. Physics (ed. 12) i. iii. 49 To convert a certain number of foot-pounds into kilogramme-metres we have..foot/metre = 0.3048, the unit factor being thus 0.1383.
1907 Science 15 Nov. 652/2 The bodily characters may result from the transmission of distinct unit-factors.
1911 W. Johannsen in Amer. Naturalist 45 132 I have proposed the terms ‘gene’ and ‘genotype’..to be used in the science of genetics. The ‘gene’ is nothing but a very applicable little word, easily combined with others, and hence it may be useful as an expression for the ‘unit-factors’, ‘elements’ or ‘allelomorphs’ in the gametes, demonstrated by modern Mendelian researches.
1966 E. A. Carlson Gene iv. 26 When unit-character was changed to ‘unit-factor’ or to ‘factor’ alone, Castle no longer dissociated the transmitting agent from its effect on a character.
1988 H. O. Daley Probl. in Chem. (ed. 2) i. 10 This is the unit factor that converts from pounds to grams.
2007 T. L. White et al. Forest Genetics iii. 37 Mendel further hypothesized that one unit factor (i.e. allele) is dominant to the other recessive factor.
2014 S. S. Zumdahl Chemistry (ed. 9) i. 22 The unit factor for the conversion of feet to inches must be cubed to accommodate the conversion of ft3 to in3.
unit fraction n. Mathematics a fraction having one as its numerator.
ΚΠ
1890 H. B. Fine Number-syst. Algebra ii. iii. 92 They [sc. the ancient Egyptians] represented any fraction whose numerator is 1 by the denominator..and resolved all other fractions into sums of such unit fractions.
1949 Jrnl. Biblical Lit. 68 395 A unit fraction like one-fifth was in very ancient times evaluated in relation to its ‘complementary fraction,’ i.e. the fraction which added to the unit fraction makes one.
2007 R. Smith Fractions (Cornerstones in Number) 68 Any unit fraction is one out of a number of equal parts and the number of equal parts is the denominator of the unit fraction.
unitholder n. Finance a person who holds securities in an investment trust or unit trust.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [noun] > investment trust > one associated with
unitholder1908
1908 Atlanta Constit. 17 Nov. 12 It pays to the Unit holder a dividend of five per cent per annum.
1965 M. Naylor Your Money 87 One great advantage of unit trusts is that unit-holders can buy or sell at any time, and get the ‘true’ value of their investment.
2001 Times 24 Jan. i. 24/7 If Eurotunnel is ever to generate anything like a decent return for unitholders, it will be freight that fuels it.
unit-linked adj. Finance designating a life assurance policy or other investment in which the premiums or payments are invested in a unit trust (unit trust n. (a)); of or relating to such a policy.The word is not used in North America.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > insurance > [adjective] > insurance policy types
tontine1790
whole-life1832
term1834
floating1839
all risks1885
third party1901
non-profit1905
knock for knock1906
stamped1913
warehouse to warehouse1922
without-profit(s)1924
with-profit(s)1924
loaded1928
unit-linked1966
no-fault1967
new-for-old1984
critical illness1986
1966 Guardian 21 Apr. 13/4 Its new unit linked profits policy has the advantages that it can be used for house purchase,..and is available for tax relief.
1992 Canberra Times 17 May 9 The worst course of action most investors could take now is to panic and sell out of sharemarket and unit-linked investments.
1998 E. Bignell Which? Way to save & Invest (ed. 10) xiv. 214 It may..hand contributions over to an insurance company to be invested either on a with-profits or unit-linked basis.
unit load n. a number of items arranged or packaged as a single unit, esp. on a pallet, to facilitate handling, transportation, and storage.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > merchandise > [noun] > goods carried or sold in specific unit
ball1425
balette1453
packware1570
bale-goods1694
allotment1703
ballot1729
bale1753
parcel1841
unit load1884
bagging1900
1884 Times of India 10 Mar. 4/6 A committee..is to assemble at Calcutta for the elaboration of a scheme for the packing of the various equipments of a field hospital, the weight of the unit load being limited to 80 lbs.
1939 Steel 12 June 54/1 (caption) Unit load of four edgewise-wound copper coils on pallet handled by fork truck.
1970 Times 2 June (Container Suppl.) p. i/1 The British Transport Docks Board has a nationwide network of nine well equipped ports, providing some of the most advanced facilities for unit-load handling.
2011 M. Parvini in R. Z. Farahani et al. Logistics Operations & Managem. ix. 160 The elementary principle behind the unit load is making smaller units more convenient, economical, and easier to handle.
unit matrix n. Mathematics †(a) (in quot. 1861) any square matrix having a determinant equal to one (obsolete rare); (b) = identity matrix n. at identity n. Compounds 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > numerical arrangement > [noun] > array > matrix
matrix1850
unit matrix1861
adjugate1882
adjoint1889
submatrix1903
identity matrix1908
row matrix1936
transpose1937
singular matrix1964
1861 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 151 316 Let that matrix be reduced by premultiplication with a unit-matrix.
1881 Amer. Jrnl. Math. 4 326 When the matrix is a unit-matrix or a zero-matrix..there are distinct genera and species of such roots.
1972 M. Kline Math. Thought xxxiii. 807 The product of a matrix and its inverse is the unit matrix, denoted by I.
2007 M. M. Woolfson & M. S. Woolfson Math. for Physics viii. 109 Pre-multiplying or post-multiplying a matrix by a unit matrix leaves the matrix unchanged.
unit membrane n. Biology a thin, semipermeable lipid bilayer with incorporated proteins, that encloses cells (= cell membrane n. at cell n.1 Compounds 3) and some organelles; spec. (now historical) such a membrane as formerly supposed to consist of a lipid bilayer between two superficial layers of protein.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > substance > cell > parts of cell > [noun] > wall or membranes
septum1720
cell wall1840
valve1852
periplast1853
stroma1872
ghost1879
endoplasmic reticulum1883
plasma membrane1893
plasmalemma1923
unit membrane1958
purple membrane1968
1958 Jrnl. Biophysical & Biochem. Cytol. 4 39 The unit membranes composing each lamella sometimes are slightly (~ 50 to 100 A) separated in the clefts.
1970 E. J. Ambrose & D. M. Easty Cell Biol. v. 173 The chloroplast, like all plastids, is bounded by a double unit membrane.
2012 9th Ann. Rep. Internat. Comm. Taxon. Viruses ii. 147 This layer consists of a unit membrane and an exterior layer of protein subunits.
unit price n. (a) the price at which a single unit of a commodity is sold; (b) the price of pre-packaged food or other goods given as the price per unit of weight, volume, etc. (cf. unit pricing n.).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > [noun] > price of unit
rate1596
unit price1840
1840 D. Turnbull Trav. in West xix. 392 The unit price being as much too low, as the gross numbers are exaggerated.
1969 Washington Post 14 Sept. c2/1 Safeway will show shoppers the unit price—the price per pound—of the cans, boxes, bottles and packages whose varying costs and weights befuddle the housewife looking for the best buys.
1977 P. Way Super-Celeste i. 45 Whoever sold a plane here would sell it to NATO through the 1990s. Sell here and the unit price would come down.
2002 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 20 Apr. 11/5 Many supermarkets now offered consumers a ‘unit price’ on the tag to help consumers.
unit pricing n. the practice of labelling pre-packaged food or other goods with the price per unit of weight, volume, etc., permitting easier price comparisons between similar products in different sized containers.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > pricing > [noun] > marking with unit price
unit pricing1969
1969 N.Y. Times 14 Sept. 31/1 A two-month test of unit pricing—listing the price per pound or pint of packaged foods and detergents—is being set up.
1998 Grocer 1 Aug. 6/1 Traders have until September to make their feelings known to the government about unit pricing.
2008 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 1 Aug. 6 Franklins, which yesterday said it would introduce unit pricing from September, said it would list toilet paper on the basis of price per roll.
unit proverb n. rare a short biblical proverb forming a self-contained unit of text.
ΚΠ
1896 R. G. Moulton Lit. Study Bible xi. 258 These Unit Proverbs exhibit two varieties.
1982 I. L. Jensen Proverbs i. 29 Unit proverbs are one to four verses, and clusters are groups of unit proverbs.
unit record n. (a) a complete record, typically written or printed on a single card, of one or more properties of a particular item or object; (also, in later use) a punch card or other representation of such a record which can be processed by a computer or tabulating machine (now chiefly historical); (b) a record, contained within a single file, of all details relating to a person's admissions and treatment at a particular hospital.
ΚΠ
1908 Bureau Drawer Dec. 10/2 The unit record principle, made practicable by the card system, has given these records a new accessibility and significance.]
1912 Factory Jan. 32/1 A listing of machinery and other fixed assets, for the purpose of securing a complete unit record of correct and uniform depreciation.
1916 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 11 Mar. 800/2 With the advent of the unit history system, the patient's unit record will be sent complete to the examining room and the notes inscribed directly.
2002 Infection Control & Hosp. Epidemiol. 23 373/1 Data collected relating to the infection included patient unit record number.
2005 J. Yates Structuring Information Age vii. 222 A complete record of an inventory item, for example, would be contained on a single card. The card was called a unit record.
unit rule n. U.S. Politics a procedure for allocating votes that obliges all of a state's representatives to vote the same way, typically for a candidate supported by the majority of constituents. Originating in national conventions for the Democratic Party during the 19th cent., the term has since been applied in other contexts, most prominently to voting in the electoral college, where the procedure is used by 48 states and the District of Columbia.
ΚΠ
1856 N.-Y. Daily Tribune 2 June 5/1 The Massachusetts delegation cannot be brought up to the unit rule, and will vote ten or twelve for Buchanan and 14 or 15 for Pierce.
1876 T. P. Cook Life & Public Services Hon. S. J. Tilden xxiii. 319 Indiana voted her 30 votes solidly for the amendment, and so did Kentucky, which voted under a unit rule, and was in the hands of a greenback majority.
1932 Emporia (Kansas) Gaz. 24 June 1/7 The unit rule could not be abolished for the present convention because delegations have already begun to arrive with instructions from their states to vote under the unit rule.
1981 Amer. Bar Assoc. Jrnl. 67 855/3 Many observers believe that the unit rule has been a principal guarantee of the two-party system in the United States.
2005 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 24 Mar. 16/1 The ‘unit rule’..gives all of a state's electoral votes to the winner of that state's popular vote.
unit sale n. chiefly Business the sale of a single manufactured item; (in plural) the number of manufactured items sold during a given period.
ΚΠ
1916 A. W. Shaw Approach to Business Probl. xi. 164 On certain branded and widely advertised products, the dealer perforce accepts a reduced unit profit, partly because this is compensated by the large number of unit sales.
1936 Amer. Marketing Jrnl. 3 94/2 Retail price increases tend to reduce unit sales and dollar volume.
1964 W. O. Mitchell in Maclean's 2 May 21/3 All you have to do is sell these lovely, waffle-knit, misty, sheer garments... Points will be awarded you per unit sale.
2013 Building (Nexis) 12 June The firm's business plan expects it to double unit sales within the next four years.
unit sphere n. a sphere having a radius of one unit.
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1848 Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 21 ii. Science 276 The position of the point R upon the unit sphere being now likewise indeterminate [etc.].
1902 Pop. Astron. 10 408 Let us now compute the values of a, b and p first for a unit sphere.
2001 M. Gardner Colossal Bk. Math. xi. 137 If the rod is allowed to rotate in 3-space, the free end traces a unit sphere.
unit square n. Mathematics a square having sides one unit in length.
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1848 Mechanic's Mag. 9 Sept. 246/2 This, however, implies nothing but the actual number of unit lines, unit squares, and unit cubes.
1918 H. E. Slaught & N. J. Lennes Plane Geom. (rev. ed.) 295 The diagonal of a unit square cannot be expressed as an integer or as a rational fraction.
2007 S. C. Cowin & S. B. Doty Tissue Mech. xv. 518 This unit square is deformed by F into a parallelogram.
unit train n. North American a train used to transport a single commodity, esp. coal or grain, between two points.
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society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > train > goods train > types of
way freight1867
tank-train1901
red ball1906
manifest1912
liner train1962
unit train1962
freightliner1965
1962 Rep. 46th National Conf. Weights & Meas. (U.S. Dept. of Commerce) 97 A common application is the loading of coal from stockpile to unit trains.
1979 Medicine Hat (Alberta) News 14 Feb. 11 The CNR uses four engines on unit trains carrying coal on the Prairies, three engines on unit trains carrying potash, but only two engines on unit trains carrying Prairie grain.
1998 Chicago Tribune 27 Aug. iii. 3/5 The giant railroads were willing to haul grain, but on their terms in 100-car unit trains on their mainlines.
unit trust n. Finance (a) an open-end collective investment fund which is priced, bought, and sold in units which represent a mixture of the securities which underlie the fund (not in North American use); (b) North American (more fully unit investment trust) a type of closed-end investment trust in which investors buy groups of securities in units.
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society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [noun] > investment trust
fixed trust1930
mutual fund1932
Totten trust1932
unit trust1936
mutual1971
1936 Economist 15 Feb. 369/1 A further flexible unit trust, ‘First Recovery Trust’, has appeared this week.
1943 1941 Suppl. to Code of Federal Regulations U.S.A. 1834/1 Every registered unit investment trust substantially all the assets of which consist of securities issued by a management company shall [etc.].
1992 Smithsonian June 1/2 (advt.) It's nice to know that a Nuveen Tax-Free Unit Trust is something you can count on to be reassuringly predictable.
2010 Daily Tel. 2 Feb. 24/4 Those buying an investment fund, such as a unit trust or Isa, should look to use a discount broker.
unit vector n. Mathematics a vector having a magnitude or length of one unit.
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1846 Philos. Mag. 29 115 The three vectors V.α′′α, V.α′′α′, V.αα′ are..proportional (by the last article) to the areas of the parallelograms under the three pairs of unit-vectors.
1963 G. F. Simmons Introd. Topol. & Mod. Anal. x. 251 An orthonormal set in a Hilbert space H is a non-empty subset of H which consists of mutually orthogonal unit vectors.
2010 J. H. Allen Statics for Dummies v. 62 Imagine that! Creating a new vector from a unit vector!
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1570