Single Meaning
/ˈsɪŋɡl̩/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjNot accompanied by anything else; one in number.
adjNot divided in parts.
Sentence Examples
I cannot dance one single step of Salsa.
What you have said applies only to single women.
He sent her a single red rose.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the divorce, he lived as a ____ man for many years.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He was the ____ survivor of the plane crash, making his story truly miraculous.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English single, sengle, from Old French sengle, saingle, sangle, from Latin singulus, a diminutive derived from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one”). Akin to Latin simplex (“simple”). See simple, and compare singular.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail. It’s therefore not surprising that most cameras mimic this arrangement."
— 2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist:
"These shifts refuted, answer thy appellant, […] / Who now defies thee thrice to single fight."
— 1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC:
"To undergo such maiden pilgrimage.
But earthlier happy is the rose distilled
Than that which, withering on the virgin thorn,
Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness."
— c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
"Single chose to live, and shunned to wed."
— 1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
"Now I live a single life and I find it's another world / I'm not even the same, I'm a different girl / Yesterday I was somebody's baby / Now today I'm a woman on my own"
— 1986, Phyllis Hyman, “Living All Alone”, in Living All Alone:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the divorce, he lived as a ____ man for many years.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He was the ____ survivor of the plane crash, making his story truly miraculous.