Union Meaning
/ˈjuː.njən/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe act of uniting or joining two or more things into one.
nounThe state of being united or joined; a state of unity or harmony.
Sentence Examples
Communism is the system practiced in the Soviet Union.
Only a handful of activists in our union are articulate.
The workers voted to form a union to protect rights.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The workers formed a ____ to negotiate better wages and working conditions.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The local workers formed a ____ to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions for everyone in the company today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English unyoun, from Old French union, from Late Latin ūniō, ūniōnem (“oneness, unity”), from Latin ūnus (“one”). Doublet of unio.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"Unions are useful in those cases where you need to keep track of a value that can be represented as different data types during the lifetime of the program."
— 2008, Kris Bell, Lars Ivar Igesund, Sean Kelly, Learn to Tango with D, page 58:
"Nonius the senator hath a purple coat as stiff with jewels as his mind is full of vices; rings on his fingers worth 20,000 sesterces, and[…]an union in his ear worth an hundred pounds' weight of gold […]"
— 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 3, member 3:
"And in the cup an union shall he throw, Richer than that which four successive kings In Denmark's crown have worn."
— c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The workers formed a ____ to negotiate better wages and working conditions.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The local workers formed a ____ to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions for everyone in the company today.