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).