unit

Formerly unite, a later form of unity; see unity.

• IPA^(key): /ˈjuː.nɪt/, /ˈ(j)ɪu̯.nɪt/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -uːnɪt

unit (plural units)

1. (mathematics) Oneness, singularity, seen as a component of a whole number; a magnitude of one. [from 16th c.]
   • 1570, John Dee, in H. Billingsley (trans.) Euclid, Elements of Geometry, Preface:

     Number, we define, to be, a certayne Mathematicall Sũme, of Vnits. [Note the worde, Vnit, to expresse the Greke Monas, & not Vnitie: as we haue all, commonly, till now, vsed.]

3. (sciences) A standard measure of a quantity or magnitude.

   Synonyms: unit of measure, unit of measurement

   The centimetre is a unit of length.

   The pound sterling is a unit of currency.

4. The number one.
5. Ellipsis of international unit.

   This pill provides 500 units of Vitamin E.

6. An organized group comprising people and/or equipment.

   He was a member of a special police unit.

7. (military, informal) A member of a military organization.

   The fifth tank brigade moved in with 20 units. (i.e., 20 tanks)

8. (commerce) An item which may be sold singly.

   We shipped nearly twice as many units this month as last month.

9. (US, UK, Australia, New Zealand) Any piece of equipment, such as an appliance, power tool, stereo system, computer, tractor, or machinery.

   This air-conditioner is the most efficient unit we sell.

10. (retail) A structure used to display goods for sale (usually containing shelves, pegs or hooks)

    Coordinate terms: bay, display, FSDU, gondola, stand

11. (US, Australia, New Zealand) a measure of housing equivalent to the living quarters of one household; an apartment where a group of apartments is contained in one or more multi-storied buildings or a group of dwellings is in one or more single storey buildings, usually arranged around a driveway.

    The new apartment complex will have 50 units.

12. (medicine) A quantity of approximately 517 milliliters (1.1 U.S. pints) of blood.
13. (US, military) Any military element whose structure is prescribed by competent authority, such as a table of organization and equipment; specifically, part of an organization.^[1]
14. (US, military) An organization title of a subdivision of a group in a task force.^[1]
15. (US, military) A standard or basic quantity into which an item of supply is divided, issued, or detailed. In this meaning, also called unit of issue.^[1]
16. (US, military) With regard to Reserve Components of the Armed Forces, denotes a Selected Reserve unit organized, equipped, and trained for mobilization to serve on active duty as a unit or to augment or be augmented by another unit. Headquarters and support functions without wartime missions are not considered units.^[1]
17. (algebra) The identity element, neutral element.
    • 2005, Serge Lang, Algebra, 3rd edition, Springer, →ISBN, page 3:

      An element 𝑒 of 𝑆 such that 𝑒𝑥 = 𝑥 = 𝑥𝑒 for all 𝑥 ∈ 𝑆 is called a unit element. (When the law of composition is written additively, the unit element is denoted by 0, and is called a zero element.)

18. (algebra) An element having an inverse, an invertible element; an associate of the unity.

    Hypernym: regular element

    • 1990, A. I. Kostrikin, I. R. Shafarevich, editors, Algebra I, Springer, →ISBN, page 22:

      Let 𝐴 be an arbitrary integral domain. We say that an element 𝑎 ∈ 𝐴 is invertible or is a unit of 𝐴 if it has an inverse in 𝐴; in ℤ the units are ±1, […]

19. (category theory) In an adjunction, a natural transformation from the identity functor of the domain of the left adjoint functor to the composition of the right adjoint functor with the left adjoint functor.
20. (geology) A volume of rock or ice of identifiable origin and age range that is defined by the distinctive and dominant, easily mapped and recognizable petrographic, lithologic or paleontologic features (facies) that characterize it.
    • 2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition:

      For example, the Moenkopi Formation was named for the small settlement of Moenkopi, Arizona where the formation was first defined as being a separate unit from the rocks above and beneath it.

21. (UK) A unit of alcohol.
22. (UK, electricity) One kilowatt-hour (as recorded on an electricity meter).
23. (historical) A gold coin of the reign of James I, worth twenty shillings.
24. A work unit.
25. (UK, Australia, slang) A physically large person.
    • 2018 December 11, “Aylesbury goalkeeper, 14, dies after match injury”, in BBC News:

      Luca's father, Americo Campanaro, said: "I feel like my heart has been ripped out."
      Mr Campanaro added: "He was a big lad, a big unit, that's why he was a goalkeeper, with a big heart to match. A gentle giant."

26. (US, slang, vulgar) A penis, especially a large one.

• (identity element): identity element, unity, unit element

• (chip): arithmetic logic unit
• (sciences): SI unit

unit (not comparable)

1. For each unit.

   We have to keep our unit costs down if we want to make a profit.

2. (mathematics) Having a size or magnitude of one.
   • 1990, William W. S. Wei, Time Series Analysis, →ISBN, page 9:

     Consider the following time sequence

     ${\displaystyle Z_{t}=A\sin(\omega t+\theta )}$,

     where ${\displaystyle A}$ is a random variable with a zero mean and a unit variance and ${\displaystyle \theta }$ is a random variable with a uniform distribution on the interval ${\displaystyle [-\pi ,\pi ]}$ independent of ${\displaystyle A}$.

• “unit”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “unit”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “unit”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• uint

• IPA^(key): /ˈʔunit/ [ˈʔu.n̪it]
• Hyphenation: u‧nit

únit (Basahan spelling ᜂᜈᜒᜆ᜔)

1. (Tabaco–Legazpi–Sorsogon, anatomy) skin; scalp

   Synonyms: kublit, balat

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [uˈnit]
• Rhymes: -it

unit (feminine unida, masculine plural units, feminine plural unides)

1. united

• Emirats Àrabs Units
• Estats Units
• Estats Units d'Amèrica
• Regne Unit

unit (feminine unida, masculine plural units, feminine plural unides)

1. past participle of unir

• IPA^(key): /y.ni/

• Audio:

  (file)

unit

1. inflection of unir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. third-person singular past historic

• nuit

From English unit.

• IPA^(key): [ˈʊnɪt̚]
• Hyphenation: unit

unit (plural unit-unit)

1. unit:
   1. (mathematics) oneness, singularity, seen as a component of a whole number; a magnitude of one

      Synonym: satuan

   2. (sciences) a standard measure of a quantity

unit

1. Classifier for singularity.

• “unit” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

ūnit

1. third-person singular present active indicative of ūniō

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

unit m (feminine singular unida, masculine plural units, feminine plural unidas)

1. united

unit m (feminine unida, masculine plural units, feminine plural unidas)

1. past participle of unir

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 712.

Past participle of uni.

• IPA^(key): [uˈnit]

unit m or n (feminine singular unită, masculine plural uniți, feminine and neuter plural unite)

1. united

unit (past participle of uni)

1. past participle of uni

• unet (colloquial)
• unset (colloquial)

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈɨ̞nɪt/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈiːnɪt/, /ˈɪnɪt/

unit

1. (literary) second-person singular imperfect/conditional of uno