1. unit(n = noun.quantity) unit of measurement - any division of quantity accepted as a standard of measurement or exchange; "the dollar is the United States unit of currency"; "a unit of wheat is a bushel"; "change per unit volume"
is a kind of definite quantity
has particulars: measuring block, measuring unit, denier, diopter, dioptre, carat, karat, kt, absorption unit, acceleration unit, angular unit, area unit, square measure, capacity measure, capacity unit, cubage unit, cubature unit, cubic content unit, cubic measure, displacement unit, volume unit, computer memory unit, electromagnetic unit, emu, explosive unit, force unit, linear measure, linear unit, metric, metric unit, miles per gallon, monetary unit, megaflop, mflop, million floating point operations per second, teraflop, trillion floating point operations per second, million instructions per second, mips, pain unit, pressure unit, printing unit, sound unit, telephone unit, temperature unit, weight, weight unit, mass unit, unit of viscosity, energy unit, heat unit, work unit, langley, brinell number, point, bit, electrostatic unit
Derived forms verb unitize3, verb unitize1
2. unit(n = noun.linkdef) - an individual or group or structure or other entity regarded as a structural or functional constituent of a whole; "the reduced the number of units and installations"; "the word is a basic linguistic unit"
is a kind of component, component part, constituent, part, portion
Derived forms verb unitize3, verb unitize1
3. unit(n = noun.group) social unit - an organization regarded as part of a larger social group; "the coach said the offensive unit did a good job"; "after the battle the soldier had trouble rejoining his unit"
is a kind of organisation, organization
has particulars: klavern, administrative body, administrative unit, company, family, home, house, household, menage, general delivery, poste restante, instrumentality, icu, intensive care unit, member, force, military force, military group, military unit, task force, squad, team, den, crew, gang, work party, combination, crew, scout group, scout troop, troop, outfit, fifth column, trojan horse, political entity, political unit, side, working group, working party
Derived form verb unitize3
4. unit(n = noun.cognition) - a single undivided whole; "an idea is not a unit that can be moved from one brain to another"
is a kind of whole
has particulars: one
Derived forms verb unify1, verb unitize3
5. unit(n = noun.object) building block - a single undivided natural thing occurring in the composition of something else; "units of nucleic acids"
is a kind of thing
has parts: part, piece
has particulars: chain, chemical chain, couple, unit cell, chemical group, group, radical, molecule
Derived forms verb unitize3, verb unitize2, verb unitize1
6. unit(n = noun.tops) whole - an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; "how big is that part compared to the whole?"; "the team is a unit"
is a kind of object, physical object
has parts: part, portion, section, segment
has particulars: congener, animate thing, living thing, natural object, artefact, artifact, assembly, item, aggregate, sum, total, totality
Derived forms verb unify1, verb unify2, verb unitize3, verb unitize2
1. A single thing or person. [1913 Webster]
2. The least whole number; one. [1913 Webster]
"Units are the integral parts of any large number." [1913 Webster]
3. A gold coin of the reign of James I., of the value of twenty shillings. Camden. [1913 Webster]
4. Any determinate amount or quantity (as of length, time, heat, value) adopted as a standard of measurement for other amounts or quantities of the same kind. [1913 Webster]
5. A single thing, as a magnitude or number, regarded as an undivided whole. [1913 Webster]
unit, n.
1 a an individual thing, person, or group regarded as single and complete, esp. for purposes of calculation. b each of the (smallest) separate individuals or groups into which a complex whole may be analysed (the family as the unit of society).
2 a quantity chosen as a standard in terms of which other quantities may be expressed (unit of heat; SI unit; mass per unit volume).
3 Brit. the smallest share in a unit trust.
4 a device with a specified function forming part of a complex mechanism.
5 a piece of furniture for fitting with others like it or made of complementary parts.
6 a group with a special function in an organization.
7 a group of buildings, wards, etc., in a hospital.
8 the number 'one'.
Idiom:
unit cell Crystallog. the smallest repeating group of atoms, ions, or molecules in a crystal. unit cost the cost of producing one item of manufacture. unit-holder Brit. a person with a holding in a unit trust. unit price the price charged for each unit of goods supplied. unit trust Brit. an investment company investing combined contributions from many persons in various securities and paying them dividends in proportion to their holdings.
Etymology:
L unus, prob. after DIGIT
N unity, oneness, individuality, solitude, isolation, unification, one, unit, ace, individual, none else, no other, one, sole, single, solitary, unitary, individual, apart, alone, kithless, unaccompanied, unattended, solus, single-handed, singular, odd, unique, unrepeated, azygous, first and last, isolated, insular, monospermous, unific, uniflorous, unifoliate, unigenital, uniliteral, unijocular, unimodal, unimodular, lone, lonely, lonesome, desolate, dreary, insecable, inseverable, indiscerptible, compact, indivisible, atomic, irresolvable, singly, alone, by itself, per se, only, apart, in the singular number, in the abstract, one by one, one at a time, simply, one and a half, sesqui-, natura il fece, e poi roppe la stampa, du fort au faible, two souls with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one.
absorption unit, acceleration unit, administrative unit, afghan monetary unit, air unit, albanian monetary unit, algerian monetary unit, allocation unit, angolan monetary unit, angstrom unit, angular unit, apothecaries' unit, area unit, argentine monetary unit, armenian monetary unit, army unit, artillery unit, astronomical unit, astronomy unit, atomic mass unit, austrian monetary unit, avoirdupois unit, azerbaijani monetary unit, bahrainian monetary unit, bangladeshi monetary unit, belarusian monetary unit, bhutanese monetary unit, board of trade unit, bolivian monetary unit, booster unit, botswana monetary unit, brazilian monetary unit, british capacity unit, british monetary unit, british thermal unit, bulgarian monetary unit, cambodian monetary unit, candlepower unit, capacitance unit, capacity unit, cape verde monetary unit, central processing unit, charge per unit, charge unit, chilean monetary unit, chinese monetary unit, colombian monetary unit, computer memory unit, conductance unit, coronary care unit, costa rican monetary unit, cubage unit, cuban monetary unit, cubature unit, cubic content unit, current unit, cypriot monetary unit, czech monetary unit, danish monetary unit, displacement unit, dominican monetary unit, dry unit, dutch monetary unit, ecuadoran monetary unit, egyptian monetary unit, el salvadoran monetary unit, elastance unit, electromagnetic unit, electrostatic unit, energy unit, engineer corps.