u·ni·ty

(yo͞o′nĭ-tē)

n. pl. u·ni·ties

a. The state or quality of being one or united into a whole: "The Founding Fathers had abhorred the concept of parties, fearing that they would undermine the unity of the nation through factionalism" (Julian E. Zelizer).

b. The state or quality of being in accord; harmony: The judges ruled in unity on the matter.

c. The state or quality of being unified in an aesthetic whole, as in a work of literature: the novel's thematic unity.

d. A whole that is a combination of parts: a group of ideas that taken together constitute a unity.

2. Singleness or constancy of purpose or action; continuity: "In an army you need unity of purpose" (Emmeline Pankhurst).

3. One of the three principles of dramatic structure derived by French neoclassicists from Aristotle's Poetics, stating that a drama should have but one plot, which should take place in a single day and be confined to a single locale.

4. Mathematics

a. The number 1.

b. See identity element.

[Middle English unite, from Old French, from Latin ūnitās, from ūnus, one; see oi-no- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

unity

(ˈjuːnɪtɪ)

n, pl -ties

1. the state or quality of being one; oneness

2. the act, state, or quality of forming a whole from separate parts

3. something whole or complete that is composed of separate parts

4. mutual agreement; harmony or concord: the participants were no longer in unity.

5. uniformity or constancy: unity of purpose.

6. (Mathematics) maths

a. the number or numeral one

b. a quantity assuming the value of one: the area of the triangle was regarded as unity.

c. the element of a set producing no change in a number following multiplication

7. (Art Terms) the arrangement of the elements in a work of art in accordance with a single overall design or purpose

8. (Theatre) any one of the three principles of dramatic structure deriving from Aristotle's Poetics by which the action of a play should be limited to a single plot (unity of action), a single location (unity of place), and the events of a single day (unity of time)

[C13: from Old French unité, from Latin ūnitās, from ūnus one]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

u•ni•ty

(ˈyu nɪ ti)

n., pl. -ties.

1. the state of being one; oneness.

2. a whole or totality as combining all its parts into one.

3. the state or fact of being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole; unification.

4. absence of diversity; unvaried or uniform character.

5. oneness of mind, feeling, etc., as among a number of persons; concord, harmony, or agreement.

6. Math. the number one; a quantity regarded as one.

7. (in literature and art) harmony among the parts or elements of a work producing a single major effect.

8. one of the three principles of dramatic structure (the three unities) derived from Aristotelian aesthetics by which a play is limited in action to one day (u′nity of time′ ) and one place (u′nity of place′ ) and to a single plot (u′nity of ac′tion ).

[1250–1300; Middle English unite < Old French < Latin ūnitās, derivative of ūnus one]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	unity - an undivided or unbroken completeness or totality with nothing wanting; "the integrity of the nervous system is required for normal development"; "he took measures to insure the territorial unity of Croatia" integrity, wholeness state - the way something is with respect to its main attributes; "the current state of knowledge"; "his state of health"; "in a weak financial state" completeness - the state of being complete and entire; having everything that is needed incompleteness, rawness - the state of being crude and incomplete and imperfect; "the study was criticized for incompleteness of data but it stimulated further research"; "the rawness of his diary made it unpublishable"
	2.	unity - the smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number; "he has the one but will need a two and three to go with it"; "they had lunch at one" 1, ace, one, single, I digit, figure - one of the elements that collectively form a system of numeration; "0 and 1 are digits" monas, monad - a singular metaphysical entity from which material properties are said to derive singleton - a single object (as distinguished from a pair)
	3.	unity - the quality of being united into one oneness identicalness, indistinguishability, identity - exact sameness; "they shared an identity of interests"

unity

noun

1. union, unification, coalition, federation, integration, confederation, amalgamation the future of European economic unity

2. wholeness, integrity, oneness, union, unification, entity, singleness, undividedness The deer represents the unity of the universe.
wholeness division, separation, disunity, multiplicity, heterogeneity

3. agreement, accord, consensus, peace, harmony, solidarity, unison, assent, unanimity, concord, concurrence Speakers at the rally mouthed sentiments of unity.
agreement division, disagreement, discord, independence, strife, in-fighting, individuality, disunity, ill will, factionalism

Quotations
"We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately" [Benjamin Franklin on his signing of the Declaration of Independence]
"All for one; one for all" [Alexandre Dumas The Three Musketeers]
"By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall" [John Dickinson The Patriot's Appeal]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

unity

noun

1. The condition of being one:

oneness, singleness, singularity.

2. Harmonious mutual understanding:

accord, agreement, concord, concordance, concurrence, consonance, harmony, rapport, tune.

Idiom: meeting of the minds.

3. A bringing together into a whole:

coalition, consolidation, unification, union.

4. The result of combining:

combination, composite, compound, conjugation, unification, union.

5. An identity or coincidence of interests, purposes, or sympathies among the members of a group:

oneness, solidarity, union.

Translations

وَحْدَةٌ كامِلَهوَحْدَه، إتِّفاقوَحْدَه، اكْتِمال

jednotajednotnostshoda

enhedenighedharmoni

Einheit Einheitlichkeit Eintracht Identität

unidad

unité

egységesség

einingeining, heildarsvipursamstaîa, samheldni

concordia unit...unità

vienovėvientisas dalykasvienybė

saderībavienotībavienots veselums

eenheid

helhet

единство единение

jednotnosť

enotnost

birlik bütünbütünlük

一致一致性整体统一

unity

[ˈjuːnɪtɪ] N (= oneness) → unidad f; (= harmony) → armonía f, acuerdo m
unity of place → unidad f de lugar
unity of time → unidad f de tiempo
unity is strength → la unión hace la fuerza

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

unity

[ˈjuːnɪti] n

(= union) → unité f
European economic unity → l'unité économique européenne

(= being in agreement) → unité f
There is a need for greater unity in the party → Une plus grande unité est nécessaire au sein du parti.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

unity

(= oneness, Liter) → Einheit f; (= harmony) → Einmütigkeit f, → Einigkeit f; (of a novel, painting etc) → Einheitlichkeit f, → Geschlossenheit f; national unity → (nationale) Einheit; this unity of purpose → diese gemeinsamen Ziele; to live in unity → in Eintracht leben; unity is strength → Einigkeit macht stark (Prov)

(Math) → Einheit f; (= one) → Eins f; (in set theory) → neutrales Element

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

unity

[ˈjuːnɪtɪ] n (in party, country) → unità; (of members, individuals) → unione f
in unity → in armonia, in pieno accordo

unity

(ˈjuːnəti) – plural ˈunities – noun

1. the state of being united or in agreement. When will men learn to live in unity with each other?

2. singleness, or the state of being one complete whole. Unity of design in his pictures is this artist's main aim.

3. something arranged to form a single complete whole. This play is not a unity, but a series of unconnected scenes.

unity

n. unidad; unión.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

RELIGION being the chief band of human society, it is a happy thing, when itself is well contained within the true band of unity. The quarrels, and divisions about religion, were evils unknown to the heathen.

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"The whole plan of our order should be based on the idea of preparing men of firmness and virtue bound together by unity of conviction- aiming at the punishment of vice and folly, and patronizing talent and virtue: raising worthy men from the dust and attaching them to our Brotherhood.

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Golenishtchev did not agree with this, and confounded Mihailov by his support of his first idea of the unity of the impression being essential to art.

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The facts, however, will prove to be linked and banded together by one grand scheme, devised and conducted by a master spirit; one set of characters, also, continues throughout, appearing occasionally, though sometimes at long intervals, and the whole enterprise winds up by a regular catastrophe; so that the work, without any labored attempt at artificial construction, actually possesses much of that unity so much sought after in works of fiction, and considered so important to the interest of every history.

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Notwithstanding his rather condescending attitude towards patriotism he had been adopted as the national poet, and seemed since the war of seventy to be one of the most significant glories of national unity. The enthusiastic seemed in the wildness of the Walpurgisnacht to hear the rattle of artillery at Gravelotte.

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Such a poetry could not be permanently successful, because the subjects of which it treats -- if susceptible of poetic treatment at all -- were certainly not suited for epic treatment, where unity of action which will sustain interest, and to which each part should contribute, is absolutely necessary.

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This requires, (1) Unity, (2) Variety, (3) Order, (4) Proportion, and (5) due Emphasis of parts.

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Like Dante or Bunyan, he has a revelation of another life; like Bacon, he is profoundly impressed with the unity of knowledge; in the early Church he exercised a real influence on theology, and at the Revival of Literature on politics.

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By unity of type is meant that fundamental agreement in structure, which we see in organic beings of the same class, and which is quite independent of their habits of life.

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Nor, again, can one of vast size be beautiful; for as the eye cannot take it all in at once, the unity and sense of the whole is lost for the spectator; as for instance if there were one a thousand miles long.

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And by separating there three series into their component parts, we shall find in the three eldest sisters, Hindoo architecture, Egyptian architecture, Romanesque architecture, the same symbol; that is to say, theocracy, caste, unity, dogma, myth, God: and for the three younger sisters, Phoenician architecture, Greek architecture, Gothic architecture, whatever, nevertheless, may be the diversity of form inherent in their nature, the same signification also; that is to say, liberty, the people, man.

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I will only add that, prior to the appearance of the Constitution, I rarely met with an intelligent man from any of the States, who did not admit, as the result of experience, that the UNITY of the executive of this State was one of the best of the distinguishing features of our constitution.

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