Main Entry:

uni·ty

Pronunciation:

\ˈyü-nə-tē\

Function:

noun

Inflected Form(s):

plural uni·ties

Etymology:

Middle English unite, from Anglo-French unité, from Latin unitat-, unitas, from unus one — more at one

Date:

14th century

1 a: the quality or state of not being multiple : oneness b (1): a definite amount taken as one or for which 1 is made to stand in calculation <in a table of natural sines the radius of the circle is regarded as unity> (2): identity element2 a: a condition of harmony : accord b: continuity without deviation or change (as in purpose or action)3 a: the quality or state of being made one : unification b: a combination or ordering of parts in a literary or artistic production that constitutes a whole or promotes an undivided total effect ; also : the resulting singleness of effect or symmetry and consistency of style and character4: a totality of related parts : an entity that is a complex or systematic whole5: any of three principles of dramatic structure derived by French classicists from Aristotle's Poetics and requiring a play to have a single action represented as occurring in one place and within one day6capitalized : a 20th century American religious movement that emphasizes spiritual sources of health and prosperity