释义 |
singularity /sɪŋɡjʊˈlarɪti /noun (plural singularities)1 [mass noun] The state, fact, quality, or condition of being singular: he believed in the singularity of all cultures...- On the other hand an apple is a primary object, or object of mathematics, when we consider only its primary qualities of shape and singularity (quantity).
- Acting ethically therefore does not mean acting in accordance with a universal principle but responding to the needs and demands of the other in her own uniqueness and singularity.
- Instead it emphasized the uniqueness, singularity, and indexical immediacy of the art object itself.
Synonyms uniqueness, distinctiveness, difference, individuality, particularity 1.1 [count noun] A peculiarity or odd trait: it is a singularity of the book that it contains such a wealth of illustrations...- The more I think about this, and as I write it, it rather does seem less a quirky singularity, and more of an onrushing descent into a foggy loopiness.
- In another example, Deleuze calls attention to very small children, as yet unformed as individuals, who all tend to resemble one another except in their singularities - a smile, a gesture.
- The city is the arena of multiple singularities, packed densely with each intensely individual life living out its deeply personal destiny.
Synonyms idiosyncrasy, quirk, trait, foible, peculiarity, oddity, eccentricity, abnormality 2 Physics & Mathematics A point at which a function takes an infinite value, especially in space-time when matter is infinitely dense, such as at the centre of a black hole.Within the singularity, matter is infinitely compressed into a region of infinite density....- If neutron degeneracy is not enough to resist the star's collapse it will continue to shrink until the matter is all compressed into an infinitely small, infinitely dense point called a singularity.
- Penrose introduced the scope of modern physics and followed with a description of possible models of the universe based on criteria from the theory of relativity, including the effect of singularities.
3 (usually the singularity) A hypothetical moment in time when artificial intelligence and other technologies have become so advanced that humanity undergoes a dramatic and irreversible change: maybe the singularity just happened, and we didn’t notice...- A range of dates is given for the advent of the singularity.
- From an environmental perspective, the Singularity can be thought of as the point at which technology and nature become one.
- The public might panic over accepting new and untested technologies that bring us closer to the singularity, like cloning and genetically engineered foods.
Origin Middle English: from Old French singularite, from late Latin singularitas, from singularis 'alone (of its kind)' (see singular). Rhymes angularity, barbarity, bipolarity, charity, circularity, clarity, complementarity, familiarity, granularity, hilarity, insularity, irregularity, jocularity, linearity, parity, particularity, peculiarity, polarity, popularity, regularity, secularity, similarity, solidarity, subsidiarity, unitarity, vernacularity, vulgarity |