1. 1個體性、個人特色;一個人(或一樣東西)與眾不同的地方。注意不是「個性」——「個性」比較接近 personality(開朗、害羞這類);individuality 強調的是「和別人不一樣」這件事本身。

    Individuality is the set of qualities that make one person (or one thing) different from all the others — the particular mix that makes you you. It is an uncountable noun, so you say 'her individuality', not 'an individuality'. People usually talk about individuality as something worth protecting: schools 'crush' it, uniforms 'hide' it, art teachers want students to 'express' it. Those are the verbs it lives with. There is a quieter use, too, for things rather than people: each handmade bowl has its own individuality; a neighbourhood loses its individuality when every shop becomes a chain store. Here it means roughly 'its own character, not mass-produced sameness'. Two neighbours are worth keeping apart. Personality is what someone is like — cheerful, shy, sharp. Individuality is the fact of being unlike everyone else. A person can have a strong personality and still dress and think like everyone around them; that person has personality but is not showing much individuality. Identity is a third neighbour: it is the answer to 'who am I, and what group am I part of', which can point outward to a group, while individuality always points away from the group.

From the word’s history

From individual + -ity.

individual(個人的)加 -ity。

Wiktionary

組成individual + -ity. The ending -ity makes a noun meaning 'the quality or state of being that thing' — so individuality is 'the state of being individual'. It came to English through Old French from the Latin ending -itās. The same ending pushed out an older English ending, -hood, in many words.

同家族的字

原始詞典資料2 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,摘錄並精簡格式,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

individualitynoun/ˌɪndɪvɪd͡ʒuˈælɪti/

  • 1

    The characteristics that contribute to the differentiation or distinction of someone or something from a group of otherwise comparable identity.

    • It is affirmed, that individuality pervades universal nature; that it is positively the most fundamental and universal principle which the finite mind seems capable of discovering, and the best image of the infinite. There are no two objects in the universe which are precisely alike.
    • Even in an era when individuality in dress is a cult, his clothes were noticeable. He was wearing a hard hat of the low round kind favoured by hunting men, and with it a black duffle-coat lined with white.
  • 2

    A person.

    • As persons, therefore—gigantic individualities—they wheeled into the feudal ranks and assumed feudal powers and responsibilities.

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary,已精簡格式;依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用,改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。