喜樂美語

核心畫面

You can hold on to the idea of 'one, and only one'. In grammar that means the form you use for a single person or thing. And when something is the only one of its kind, it also stands out — which is where the 'remarkable, strange' uses grow from.

可以想成「就這一個、只有一個」。在文法裡，這就是講一個人、一件東西時用的那個形式（one book，不是 two b…更多收起可以想成「就這一個、只有一個」。在文法裡，這就是講一個人、一件東西時用的那個形式（one book，不是 two books）。而一樣東西如果全場只有它一個、找不到第二個，它自然就會被看見——所以這個字另一頭會長出「非凡的」「奇特的」那種「獨一份、讓人一眼注意到」的意思。兩邊共用的其實是同一個感覺：數量上的「一」，和獨特性上的「只此一個」。

原始詞典資料13 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，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。

singularadj/ˈsɪŋ.ɡjə.lɚ/

  • 1

    Being only one of a larger population; single, individual.

    • A singular experiment cannot be regarded as scientific proof of the existence of a phenomenon.
    • And God forbid that all a company / Should rue a singular manne's folly.
  • 2

    Being the only one of the kind; unique.

    • She has a singular personality.
    • The busts[…] of the emperors and empresses are all very scarce, and some of them almost singular in their kind.
  • 3

    Distinguished by superiority: peerless, unmatched, eminent, exceptional, extraordinary.

    • a man of singular gravity or attainments
  • 4

    Out of the ordinary; curious.

    • It was very singular; I don't know why he did it.
    • So ſingular a ſadneſs / Muſt have a cauſe as ſtrange as the effect: […]
  • 5

    grammarhuman-scienceslinguisticsReferring to only one thing or person.

  • 6

    linear-algebramathematicssciencesHaving no inverse.

  • 7

    linear-algebramathematicssciencesHaving the property that the matrix of coefficients of the new variables has a determinant equal to zero.

  • 8

    mathematicssciencesset-theoryNot equal to its own cofinality.

另外 2 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    lawEach; individual.

    • to convey several parcels of land, all and singular
    • Cel[adon]. […] Hovv do Meliſſa’s tvvo fair Daughters? / Aſt[eria]. VVhen you tell me vvhich of ’em you are in love vvith, I’le anſvver you. / Cel. VVhich of ’em, naughty ſiſter, vvhat a question’s there? VVith both of ’em, vvith each and singular of ’em.
  • 10

    obsoleteEngaged in by only one on a side; single.

    • Thus made he an end, and the two princes allowed well of his last motion, and so order was taken, that they should fight togither in a singular combat

singularnoun/ˈsɪŋ.ɡjə.lɚ/

  • 1

    grammarhuman-scienceslinguisticsA form of a word that refers to only one person or thing.

  • 2

    human-scienceslogicmathematicsThat which is not general; a specific determinate instance.

  • 3

    A group of boars.

    • He rode as it were mechanically forward with his late counsellors, Diego and Gonsalez, at his side; and though, when "a singular of boars" was hunted out from his covert by the fierce Alauntes, the king followed up the chase, and even threw a spear at the bristled animal, yet it was with little spirit, and so ill aimed that the spear struck, and broke short, against an ancient oak tree of the forest.
    • The harts and hinds in their herds, the boars in their singulars, the skulls of foxes, the richesses of martens, the bevies of roes, the cetes of badgers and the routs of wolves - all came to him more or less as something which you either skinned or flayed and then took home to cook.

資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。