unit

See also: unît

English

WOTD – 5 November 2013

Etymology

Formerly unite, a later form of unity; see unity.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjuː.nɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːnɪt

Noun

unit (plural units)

1. (sciences) A standard measure of a quantity.

   The centimetre is a unit of length.

2. The number one.
3. Clipping of international unit.

   This pill provides 500 units of Vitamin E.

4. An organized group comprising people and/or equipment.

   He was a member of a special police unit.

5. (military, informal) A member of a military organization.

   The fifth tank brigade moved in with 20 units. (i.e., 20 tanks)

6. (US, military) Any military element whose structure is prescribed by competent authority, such as a table of organization and equipment; specifically, part of an organization.
7. (US, military) An organization title of a subdivision of a group in a task force.
8. (US, military) A standard or basic quantity into which an item of supply is divided, issued, or used. In this meaning, also called unit of issue.
9. (US, military) With regard to Reserve Components of the Armed Forces, denotes a Selected Reserve unit organized, equipped, and trained for mobilization to serve on active duty as a unit or to augment or be augmented by another unit. Headquarters and support functions without wartime missions are not considered units.
10. (algebra) The identity element, neutral element.
11. (algebra) An element having an inverse, an invertible element.
12. (category theory) In an adjunction, a natural transformation from the identity functor of the domain of the left adjoint functor to the composition of the right adjoint functor with the left adjoint functor.
13. (geology) A volume of rock or ice of identifiable origin and age range that is defined by the distinctive and dominant, easily mapped and recognizable petrographic, lithologic or paleontologic features (facies) that characterize it.
14. (commerce) An item which may be sold singly.

    We shipped nearly twice as many units this month as last month.

15. (Britain) A unit of alcohol.
16. (Britain, electricity) One kilowatt-hour (as recorded on an electricity meter).
17. (Australia, New Zealand) a measure of housing equivalent to the living quarters of one household, an apartment where a group of apartments is contained in one or more multi-storied buildings or a group of dwellings is in one or more single storey buildings, usually arranged around a driveway.
18. (historical) A gold coin of the reign of James I, worth twenty shillings.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Camden to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (identity element): identity element, unit element

Translations

standard measure of a quantity

• Arabic: وَحْدَة‏‎ f (waḥda)
• Asturian: unidá f
• Bashkir: берәмек (berämek)
• Belarusian: адзі́нка (be) f (adzínka)
• Bulgarian: едини́ца (bg) f (ediníca)
• Catalan: unitat (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 單位 (zh), 单位 (zh) (dānwèi)

• Czech: jednotka (cs) f
• Danish: enhed
• Dutch: eenheid (nl) f
• Esperanto: unito, unuo
• Estonian: ühik
• Finnish: yksikkö (fi)
• French: unité (fr) f
• Galician: unidade (gl) f
• Georgian: ერთეული (erteuli)
• German: Einheit (de) f
• Greek: μονάδα (el) f (monáda)
• Hebrew: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: egység (hu)
• Indonesian: satuan (id)
• Irish: aonad (ga) m
• Italian: unità (it) f
• Japanese: 単位 (ja) (たんい, tan'i)

• Javanese: iji (jv)
• Korean: 단위 (ko) (danwi) (單位 (ko))
• Lao: ໜ່ວຍ (nuaj)
• Latvian: vienība f
• Macedonian: единица f (edinica)
• Malay: unit, satuan (ms)
• Maori: waeine
• Norwegian:

  Norwegian Bokmål: enhet (no) m

  Norwegian Nynorsk: eining (nn) m

• Polish: jednostka (pl) f
• Portuguese: unidade (pt) f
• Romanian: unitate (ro) f
• Russian: едини́ца (ru) f (jediníca)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: јединица f

  Roman: jedinica (sh) f

• Slovak: jednotka f
• Slovene: enota (sl) f
• Spanish: unidad (es) f
• Swedish: enhet (sv) c
• Tagalog: isahin
• Turkish: birim (tr)
• Ukrainian: одини́ця (uk) f (odynýcja)|tr=odynýcja

number one

• Catalan: unitat (ca) f
• Finnish: yksikkö- (fi)
• French: unité (fr) f

• Hebrew: אֳָחָד‏‎ (he) m, אַחַת‏‎ (he) f
• Polish: jedność (pl) f, jedynka (pl) f
• Portuguese: unidade (pt)

international unit — see international unit

organized group comprising people and/or equipment

• Bashkir: берәмек (berämek)
• Bulgarian: едини́ца (bg) f (ediníca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 部件 (zh) (bùjiàn)

• Czech: jednotka (cs) f
• Danish: enhed
• Dutch: eenheid (nl) f
• Finnish: yksikkö (fi), osasto (fi)
• French: unité (fr) f
• German: Einheit (de) f
• Greek: μονάδα (el) f (monáda), συγκρότημα (el) n (sygkrótima)
• Hebrew: please add this translation if you can
• Indonesian: satuan (id)
• Irish: aonad (ga) m
• Italian: unità (it)
• Japanese: 一式 (いっしき, isshiki)

• Macedonian: единица f (edinica)
• Norwegian:

  Norwegian Bokmål: enhet (no) m

  Norwegian Nynorsk: eining (nn) m

• Polish: jednostka (pl) f
• Portuguese: unidade (pt) f
• Romanian: unitate (ro) f
• Russian: едини́ца (ru) f (jediníca), подразделе́ние (ru) n (podrazdelénije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: јединица f

  Roman: jedinica (sh) f

• Slovene: enota (sl) f
• Spanish: unidad (es) f
• Swedish: enhet (sv) c
• Turkish: birim (tr)
• Ukrainian: одини́ця (uk) f (odynýcja)

member of a military organization

• Bulgarian: едини́ца (bg) f (ediníca)
• Czech: jednotka (cs) f
• Dutch: eenheid (nl) f
• Estonian: üksus
• Finnish: yksikkö (fi)
• Greek: μονάδα (el) f (monáda)
• Hebrew: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: 部隊 (ja) (ぶたい, butai), 部門 (ja) (ぶもん, bumon)

• Polish: jednostka (pl) f
• Portuguese: unidade (pt) f
• Romanian: unitate (ro) f
• Russian: едини́ца (ru) f (jediníca)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: јединица f

  Roman: jedinica (sh) f

• Swedish: enhet (sv) c

military: military element with prescribed structure

• Finnish: yksikkö (fi), osasto (fi)

• Indonesian: satuan (id)

military: subdivision in a task force

• Finnish: yksikkö (fi), osasto (fi)
• Indonesian: satuan (id)

• Swedish: enhet (sv) c

military: standard or basic quantity

• Finnish: yksikkö (fi)

• Swedish: enhet (sv) c

military: selected reserve unit

• Finnish: yksikkö (fi)

• Swedish: enhet (sv) c

algebra: element of a ring

• Bulgarian: едини́ца (bg) f (ediníca)
• Finnish: yksikkö (fi)
• Greek: μονάδα (el) f (monáda)
• Icelandic: eind (is) f
• Irish: aonad (ga) m
• Norwegian:

  Norwegian Bokmål: enhet (no) m

  Norwegian Nynorsk: eining (nn) m

• Polish: jedynka (pl) f
• Portuguese: unidade (pt) f
• Romanian: unitate (ro) f
• Russian: едини́ца (ru) f (jediníca)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: јединица f

  Roman: jedinica (sh) f

geology: volume of rock or ice of identifiable origin

item which may be sold singly

• Finnish: yksikkö (fi)
• Greek: κομμάτι (el) n (kommáti), τεμάχιο (el) n (temáchio)
• Hebrew: יְחִידָה‏‎ (he) f
• Norwegian:

  Norwegian Bokmål: enhet (no) m

  Norwegian Nynorsk: eining (nn) m

• Polish: sztuka (pl) f
• Portuguese: unidade (pt) f
• Russian: едини́ца (ru) f (jediníca), шту́ка (ru) f (štúka)
• Swedish: enhet (sv) c

kilowatt-hour as recorded on an electricity meter — see kilowatt-hour

measure of housing equivalent to the living quarters of one household

• Finnish: asunto (fi)

• Hebrew: דִּירָה‏‎ (he) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} satuan (id)

• Slovak: ^{(please verify)} jednotka f

Adjective

unit (not comparable)

1. For each unit.

   We have to keep our unit costs down if we want to make a profit.

2. (mathematics) Having a size or magnitude of one.
   • 1990, William W. S. Wei, Time Series Analysis, ISBN 0201159112, page 9:

     Consider the following time sequence

     $Z_{t}=A\sin(\omega t+\theta )$,

     where $A$ is a random variable with a zero mean and a unit variance and $\theta$ is a random variable with a uniform distribution on the interval $[-\pi ,\pi ]$ independent of $A$.

Translations

for each unit

• Finnish: (in compounds) yksikkö- (fi)
• Indonesian: satuan (id)

• Portuguese: unitário (pt)
• Swedish: enhets-

mathematical

• Finnish: (in compounds) yksikkö- (fi)
• Polish: jednostkowy (pl) m

• Portuguese: unitário (pt)

Derived terms

Terms derived from unit

• construction unit
• tractor unit
• unit aircraft
• unitality

• unit combat readiness
• unit commitment status
• unit cost

• unit designation list
• unitise, unitize
• unit trust

Further reading

• unit in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• unit in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• unit at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• uint

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Catalan

Adjective

unit (feminine unida, masculine plural units, feminine plural unides)

1. united

Verb

unit m (feminine unida, masculine plural units, feminine plural unides)

1. past participle of unir

---

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /y.ni/

Verb

unit

1. third-person singular present indicative of unir
2. third-person singular past historic of unir

Anagrams

• nuit

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Interlingue

Verb

unit

1. past and passive participle of unir

---

Latin

Verb

ūnit

1. third-person singular present active indicative of ūniō

---

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [uˈnit]

Participle

unit

1. past participle of uni

Declension

declension of unit

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	unit		unită	uniți	unite
	definite	unitul		unita	uniții	unitele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	unit		unite	uniți	unite
	definite	unitului		unitei	uniților	unitelor

---

Welsh

Alternative forms

• unet (colloquial)
• unset (colloquial)

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈɨ̞nɪt/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈiːnɪt/

Verb

unit

1. (literary) second-person singular imperfect / conditional of uno

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
unit	unchanged	unchanged	hunit
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.