English Online Dictionary. What means single? What does single mean?
English
Etymology
From Middle English single, sengle, from Old French sengle, saingle, sangle, from Latin singulus, a diminutive derived from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one”). Akin to Latin simplex (“simple”). See simple, and compare singular.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɪŋɡl̩/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɪŋɡəl/
- Homophone: cingle
- Rhymes: -ɪŋɡəl
Adjective
single (not comparable)
- Not accompanied by anything else; one in number.
- Synonyms: lone, sole, solitary
- Not divided in parts.
- Synonyms: unbroken, undivided, uniform
- Designed for the use of only one.
- Performed by one person, or one on each side.
- Not married, and (in modern times) not dating or without a significant other.
- Synonyms: unmarried, unpartnered, available
- (botany) Having only one rank or row of petals.
- (obsolete) Simple and honest; sincere, without deceit.
- Uncompounded; pure; unmixed.
- (obsolete) Simple; foolish; weak; silly.
Derived terms
Related terms
- singular
- singularity
- singularly
Translations
Noun
single (plural singles)
- (music) A 45 RPM vinyl record with one song on side A and one on side B.
- Antonym: album
- (music) A popular song released and sold (on any format) nominally on its own though usually having at least one extra track.
- One who is not married or does not have a romantic partner.
- Antonym: married
- (cricket) A score of one run.
- (baseball) A hit in baseball where the batter advances to first base.
- (dominoes) A tile that has a different value (i.e. number of pips) at each end.
- (US, informal) A bill valued at $1.
- (UK) A one-way ticket.
- (Canadian football) A score of one point, awarded when a kicked ball is dead within the non-kicking team's end zone or has exited that end zone.
- Synonym: (official name in the rules) rouge
- (tennis, chiefly in the plural) A game with one player on each side, as in tennis.
- One of the reeled filaments of silk, twisted without doubling to give them firmness.
- (UK, Scotland, dialect) A handful of gleaned grain.
- (computing, programming) A floating-point number having half the precision of a double-precision value.
- Coordinate term: double
- (film) A shot of only one character.
- A single cigarette.
- (rail transport, obsolete) Synonym of single-driver.
Derived terms
Descendants
- → Dutch: single
- → Finnish: sinkku
- → German: Single
- → Indonesian: singel
- → Japanese: シングル (shinguru)
- → Polish: singiel
Translations
See also
- baseball
- cricket
Verb
single (third-person singular simple present singles, present participle singling, simple past and past participle singled)
- (baseball) To get a hit that advances the batter exactly one base.
- (agriculture) To thin out.
- (of a horse) To take the irregular gait called singlefoot.
- (intransitive, archaic) To sequester; to withdraw; to retire.
- (intransitive, archaic) To take alone, or one by one; to single out.
- (transitive) To reduce (a railway) to single track.
Derived terms
- single out
Translations
See also
References
- “single”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “single”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Anagrams
- Nigels, glinse, ingles
Alemannic German
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English single.
Adjective
single (indeclinable)
- single (not in a relationship)
- Antonym: vergee
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from English single.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈsiŋ.ɡəl]
- IPA(key): (Valencia) [ˈsiŋ.ɡel]
Noun
single m (plural singles)
- (music) single
Further reading
- “single” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “single”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
- “single” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from English single.
Pronunciation
- (music record or track): IPA(key): /ˈsɪŋ.əl/, /ˈsɪŋ.ɡəl/
- ((person) without romantic partner): IPA(key): /ˈsɪŋ.ɡəl/
- Hyphenation: sin‧gle
Noun
single m (plural singles, diminutive singletje n)
- a single (short music record, e.g. 45 RPM vinyl with an A side and a B side; main track of such a record)
- a single (person without a romantic partner)
Derived terms
- debuutsingle
- hitsingle
Adjective
single (not comparable)
- single (without a romantic partner)
- Synonyms: alleenstaand, alleengaand
Declension
Finnish
Etymology
Borrowed from English single.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsiŋle/, [ˈs̠iŋle̞]
- Rhymes: -iŋle
- Hyphenation(key): sing‧le
Noun
single
- single (45 rpm record; track nominally released on its own)
Declension
Derived terms
See also
- pitkäsoitto
Further reading
- “single”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03
French
Noun
single m (plural singles)
- single room
- (music) single
Further reading
- “single”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
Etymology
Borrowed from English single.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsin.ɡol/
- Rhymes: -inɡol
- Hyphenation: sìn‧gle
Noun
single m or f by sense (invariable)
- single, loner (person who lives alone and has no emotional ties)
Adjective
single (invariable)
- single (unmarried, not in a relationship)
- Synonym: (formal) celibe
References
Kapampangan
Alternative forms
- singlai, singlay (obsolete)
Etymology
From sangle.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sɪŋˈle/ [sɪŋˈlɛː]
- Hyphenation: sing‧le
Noun
singlé
- fried rice
Verb
singlé
- complete aspect of isangle
Norwegian Bokmål
Alternative forms
- singel
Etymology 1
Borrowed from English single and singles.
Adjective
single
- plural of singel
Noun
single m (definite singular singlen, indefinite plural singler, definite plural singlene)
- (music) a single (record or CD)
- Synonym: singelplate
- (sports) singles (e.g. in tennis)
Etymology 2
From singel.
Verb
single (imperative single, present tense singler, simple past and past participle singla or singlet)
- to sprinkle or scatter shingle
References
- “single” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
- “single” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
Norwegian Nynorsk
Alternative forms
- singel
Etymology
Borrowed from English single and singles.
Noun
single m (definite singular singlen, indefinite plural singlar, definite plural singlane)
- (music) a single (record or CD)
- (sports) singles (e.g. in tennis)
Synonyms
- singelplate (record)
References
- “single” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Portuguese
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English single.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈsĩ.ɡow/
Noun
single m (plural singles)
- (music) single (song released on its own or with an extra track)
Romanian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English single. Doublet of singur.
Noun
single n (plural single-uri)
- single (album)
Declension
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsinɡle/ [ˈsĩŋ.ɡle]
- Rhymes: -inɡle
- Syllabification: sin‧gle
Etymology 1
Unadapted borrowing from English single. Doublet of sendos.
Noun
single m (plural singles)
- single (song released)
- Synonym: sencillo
Noun
single m or f by sense (plural singles)
- single, single person
- Synonyms: soltero m, soltera f
Etymology 2
Verb
single
- inflection of singlar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative
Further reading
- “single”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
Turkish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English single.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /siŋɡɫ̩/
Noun
single (definite accusative singleı, plural singlelar)
- (music) single