Etimology
From Medieval Latin indīviduālis, from Latin indīviduum (“an indivisible thing”), neuter of indīviduus (“indivisible, undivided”), from in + dīviduus (“divisible”), from dīvidō (“divide”).
noun
individual (plural individuals)
A person considered alone, rather than as belonging to a group of people.
(law) A single physical human being as a legal subject, as opposed to a legal person such as a corporation.
An object, be it a thing or an agent, as contrasted to a class.
(statistics) An element belonging to a population.
Examples
He is an unusual individual.
Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination […].
It is typically held that chairs, trees, rocks, people and many of the so-called ‘everyday’ objects we encounter can be regarded as individuals.
In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.
adjective
individual (comparative more individual, superlative most individual)
Relating to a single person or thing as opposed to more than one.
Intended for a single person as opposed to more than one person.
Not divisible without losing its identity.
Examples
As we can't print them all together, the individual pages will have to be printed one by one.
Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.
individual personal pension; individual cream cakes
Related words
synonyms
(relating to a single person or thing): single, self-standing
(intended for a single person or thing): personal, single
antonyms
(antonym(s) of "relating to a single person or thing"): collective
(antonym(s) of "intended for a single person or thing"): group, joint, shared