# single
## 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: /ˈsɪŋɡl̩/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈsɪŋɡəl/
* Audio (General American):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Homophone: cingle
* Rhymes: -ɪŋɡəl

### Adjective

single (not comparable)
* Not accompanied by anything else; one in number.
    Synonyms: lone, sole, solitary
    Can you give me a single reason not to leave right now?
    The vase contained a single long-stemmed rose.
** 2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist:The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail. It’s therefore not surprising that most cameras mimic this arrangement.
* Not divided in parts.
    Synonyms: unbroken, undivided, uniform
    The potatoes left the spoon and landed in a single big lump on the plate.
* Designed for the use of only one.
    a single room
* Performed by one person, or one on each side.
    a single combat
** 1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC:These shifts refuted, answer thy appellant, […] / Who now defies thee thrice to single fight.
* Not married, and (in modern times) not dating or without a significant other.
    Synonyms: unmarried, unpartnered, available
    Forms often ask if a person is single, married, divorced, or widowed. In this context, a person who is dating someone but who has never married puts "single".
    Josh put down that he was a single male on the dating website.
** c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:To undergo such maiden pilgrimage. But earthlier happy is the rose distilled Than that which, withering on the virgin thorn, Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness.
** 1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:Single chose to live, and shunned to wed.
* (botany) Having only one rank or row of petals.
* (obsolete) Simple and honest; sincere, without deceit.
** 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Luke xj:Therefore, when thyne eye is single: then is all thy boddy full off light. Butt if thyne eye be evyll: then shall all thy body be full of darknes?
** 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:I speak it with a single heart.
* Uncompounded; pure; unmixed.
** 1725, Isaac Watts, Logick: Or, The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry after Truth, […], 2nd edition, London: […] John Clark and Richard Hett, […], Emanuel Matthews, […], and Richard Ford, […], published 1726, →OCLC:simple ideas are opposed to complex , and single ideas to compound.
** 1867, William Greenough Thayer Shedd, Homiletics, and Pastoral Theology, page 166:The most that is required is, that the passage of Scripture, selected as the foundation of the sacred oration, should, like the oration itself, be single, full, and unsuperfluous in its character.
* (obsolete) Simple; foolish; weak; silly.
** 1616–1618, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Nathan Field, “The Queene of Corinth”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act III, scene i:He utters such single matter in so infantly a voice.

#### Derived terms

* a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
* are you single
* at a single stroke
* better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness
* cheese single
* every single
* every single time
* I'm single
* semi-single
* single-acting
* single and ready to mingle
* single angle quote
* single annulus
* single as a dollar bill
* single as a Pringle
* single bed
* single-blind
* single bond
* single-breasted
* single-cell
* single-celled
* single-celling
* single-chain
* single child
* single-click
* single combat
* single-course
* single cream
* single crochet
* single-crop
* single cross
* single crystal
* single currency
* single curve
* single data rate
* single-decker
* single-digit salute
* single dispatch
* singledom
* single-driver
* single-edged
* single-elimination
* single-elimination tournament
* single entendre
* single-entry
* single entry
* single-eyed
* single eyelid
* single father
* single-figure
* single file
* single-first cousin
* single flower
* single-fold
* single-foot
* single Gloucester
* single grave
* single-hand
* single-handed
* single-handedly
* single-handedness
* single-heading
* single-hearted
* single-heartedly
* single-heartedness
* singlehood
* single-horse
* single-incision laparoscopic surgery
* single-issue
* single jack
* single justice procedure
* single knot
* single leaf
* single lens reflex
* single-lens reflex
* single life
* single-line
* single-line whip
* single malt
* single malt scotch
* single malt whisky
* single-manned
* single-manning
* single market
* single-masted
* single-minded
* single-mindedly
* single-mindedness
* single-molecule magnet
* single money
* single mother
* singleness
* single-o
* single-O
* single option
* single-organismic
* single-page application
* single pane of glass
* single parent
* single-parent family
* single parenting
* single-payer
* single-phase
* single-phasing
* single-platform
* singleplayer
* single-player
* single-ply membrane
* single-ply roof
* single pneumonia
* single-point
* single point of failure
* single-point urban interchange
* single precision
* single procession
* single prop
* single quote
* singler
* single-reed
* single reed
* single responsibility principle
* single scull
* single-serve
* single-serving site
* single-sex
* single shell
* single shot
* single-shot
* single-sideband modulation
* single-sided
* single sourcing
* single-space
* single-spaced
* single-spacing
* single-speed bicycle
* single standard
* single star system
* singlestick
* single stitch
* single story
* single-strand binding protein
* single-stranded
* single-stream
* single supplement
* singlet
* single-tasking
* single tax
* single-taxism
* single ticket
* single time
* singleton
* single track
* single-track
* single-tracking
* single transferable vote
* single-tree
* single tree
* single union agreement
* single up
* single-use
* single-user
* single-valued
* single-valued function
* single-wheeler
* single wicket
* single wicket cricket
* single-wide
* single-word
* single yellow line
* singly

#### 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.
    The Offspring released four singles from their most recent album.
* One who is not married or does not have a romantic partner.
    Antonym: married
    He went to the party, hoping to meet some friendly singles there.
* (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.
    I don't have any singles, so you'll have to make change.
** 1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 5, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published November 1976, →ISBN, page 94:She looked in her purse, found a ten and a single, gave him the ten. ‘I'll spend it on booze,’ he said.
* (UK) A one-way ticket.
** 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:‘I want to know, Mr Stone, if, in the course of the day, you have issued any tickets to a person dressed in Arab costume?’ His reply was prompt. ‘I have — by the last train, the 7.25, — three singles.’
* (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
** 2011, Rubin H. Landau, A First Course in Scientific Computing, page 214:If you want to be a scientist or an engineer, learn to say “no” to singles and floats.
* (film) A shot of only one character.
** 1990, Jon Boorstin, The Hollywood Eye: What Makes Movies Work, page 94:But if the same scene is shot in singles (or “over-the-shoulder” shots where one of the actors is only a lumpy shoulder in the foreground), the editor and the director can almost redirect the scene on film.
* A single cigarette.
* (rail transport, obsolete) Synonym of single-driver.
** 1945 March and April, “Preserving Historic Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 64:A few such examples have been preserved, as is well known, such as one of the Stirling 8-ft. singles of the late Great Northern Railway, the Great Western 4-4-0 City of Truro, ex-Caledonian single-driver No. 123, the Brighton 0-4-2 Gladstone, and others.

#### Derived terms

* cassingle
* CD single
* lead single
* maxi single
* singles bar
* split single
* Texas League single
* triple single

#### Descendants

* → Dutch: single
* → Finnish: sinkku
* → German: Single
* → Indonesian: singel
* → Japanese: シングル (shinguru)
* → Polish: singiel

#### 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.
    Pedro singled in the bottom of the eighth inning, which, if converted to a run, would put the team back into contention.
* (agriculture) To thin out.
** 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 7, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:Paul went joyfully, and spent the afternoon helping to hoe or to single turnips with his friend.
** 1916, Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, page 241:The seeds did not germinate in many parts of a row until rains in end of June and thunderplumps in first week of July brought them up later in patches, so that no second sowing was necessary, but singling was done by stages.
* (of a horse) To take the irregular gait called singlefoot.
** 1860, William S. Clark, Massachusetts Agricultural College Annual Report:Many very fleet horses, when overdriven, adopt a disagreeable gait, which seems to be a cross between a pace and a trot, in which the two legs of one side are raised almost but not quite, simultaneously. Such horses are said to single, or to be single-footed.
* (intransitive, archaic) To sequester; to withdraw; to retire.
** 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):an agent singling itself from consorts
* (intransitive, archaic) To take alone, or one by one; to single out.
** 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):men […] commendable when they are singled
* (transitive) To reduce (a railway) to single track.
** 1959 June, “Talking of Trains: North Eastern report”, in Trains Illustrated, page 293:In the east of Yorkshire, Mr. A. M. Ross reports the belief of local railwaymen that the N.E.R. plans to single the York-Beverley line, leaving an adequate provision of passing loops, and to operate it by C.T.C. from York; […]
** 1962 October, “Talking of Trains: New signalbox at Twyford”, in Modern Railways, page 226:The Henley branch, recently singled and fully track-circuited, is worked by acceptance lever between Twyford and Shiplake cabins.
** 2020 November 18, Paul Bigland, “New infrastructure and new rolling stock”, in RAIL, number 918, page 48:Sadly, it's not the quickest route as much of it has been singled, but it still boasts some attractive stations as well as an active Community Rail Partnership, one of the first in the country.

#### Derived terms

* single out

#### See also

| Number | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Modifier | single | double / twofold | triple / threefold | quadruple / fourfold | quintuple / pentuple / fivefold |
| Whole | loner / singleton / monad | pair / couple / twosome / dyad | trio / threesome / triad / troika | foursome / tetrad | fivesome |
| Part | only one / singlet | twin / one of two / doublet | triplet / one of three | quadruplet / one of four | quintuplet / pentuplet / one of five |
| Number | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Modifier | sextuple / hextuple / sixfold | septuple / heptuple / sevenfold | octuple / eightfold | ninefold / nonuple | tenfold / decuple |
| Whole | sixsome | sevensome | eightsome | ninesome | tensome / decad |
| Part | sextuplet / hextuplet / one of six | one of seven / septuplet / heptuplet | octuplet / one of eight | one of nine / nonuplet | one of ten / decuplet |
| Number | 11 | 12 | 13 | 100 | many |
| Modifier | elevenfold / undecuple / hendecuple | twelvefold / duodecuple | thirteenfold / tredecuple | a hundredfold / centuple | multiple |
| Whole | elevensome | twelvesome | thirteensome | hundredsome | |
| Part | one of eleven / undecuplet / hendecuplet | one of twelve / duodecuplet | one of thirteen / tredecuplet | one of a hundred / centuplet | one of many / multiplet |

### 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: (Central, Balearic) [ˈsiŋ.ɡəl]
* IPA: (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: /ˈsɪŋ.əl/, /ˈsɪŋ.ɡəl/
* ((person) without romantic partner): IPA: /ˈsɪŋ.ɡəl/
* Audio:(file)
* 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: /ˈsiŋle/, [ˈs̠iŋle̞]
* Rhymes: -iŋle
* Hyphenation: sing‧le

### Noun

single
* single (45 rpm record; track nominally released on its own)

#### Declension

Possessive forms of single (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation) :
first-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
singleni
singleni
accusative
nom.
singleni
singleni
gen.
singleni
genitive
singleni
singlejeni singleini $^{rare}$
partitive
singleäni
singlejäni
inessive
singlessäni
singleissäni
elative
singlestäni
singleistäni
illative
singleeni
singleihini
adessive
singlelläni
singleilläni
ablative
singleltäni
singleiltäni
allative
singlelleni
singleilleni
essive
singlenäni
singleinäni
translative
singlekseni
singleikseni
abessive
singlettäni
singleittäni
instructive
comitative
—singleineni
second-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
singlesi
singlesi
accusative
nom.
singlesi
singlesi
gen.
singlesi
genitive
singlesi
singlejesi singleisi $^{rare}$
partitive
singleäsi
singlejäsi
inessive
singlessäsi
singleissäsi
elative
singlestäsi
singleistäsi
illative
singleesi
singleihisi
adessive
singlelläsi
singleilläsi
ablative
singleltäsi
singleiltäsi
allative
singlellesi
singleillesi
essive
singlenäsi
singleinäsi
translative
singleksesi
singleiksesi
abessive
singlettäsi
singleittäsi
instructive
comitative
—singleinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
singlemme
singlemme
accusative
nom.
singlemme
singlemme
gen.
singlemme
genitive
singlemme
singlejemme singleimme $^{rare}$
partitive
singleämme
singlejämme
inessive
singlessämme
singleissämme
elative
singlestämme
singleistämme
illative
singleemme
singleihimme
adessive
singlellämme
singleillämme
ablative
singleltämme
singleiltämme
allative
singlellemme
singleillemme
essive
singlenämme
singleinämme
translative
singleksemme
singleiksemme
abessive
singlettämme
singleittämme
instructive
comitative
—singleinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
singlenne
singlenne
accusative
nom.
singlenne
singlenne
gen.
singlenne
genitive
singlenne
singlejenne singleinne $^{rare}$
partitive
singleänne
singlejänne
inessive
singlessänne
singleissänne
elative
singlestänne
singleistänne
illative
singleenne
singleihinne
adessive
singlellänne
singleillänne
ablative
singleltänne
singleiltänne
allative
singlellenne
singleillenne
essive
singlenänne
singleinänne
translative
singleksenne
singleiksenne
abessive
singlettänne
singleittänne
instructive
comitative
—singleinenne
third-person possessor
singular
plural
nominative
singlensä
singlensä
accusative
nom.
singlensä
singlensä
gen.
singlensä
genitive
singlensä
singlejensä singleinsä $^{rare}$
partitive
singleään singleänsä
singlejään singlejänsä
inessive
singlessään singlessänsä
singleissään singleissänsä
elative
singlestään singlestänsä
singleistään singleistänsä
illative
singleensä
singleihinsä
adessive
singlellään singlellänsä
singleillään singleillänsä
ablative
singleltään singleltänsä
singleiltään singleiltänsä
allative
singlelleen singlellensä
singleilleen singleillensä
essive
singlenään singlenänsä
singleinään singleinänsä
translative
singlekseen singleksensä
singleikseen singleiksensä
abessive
singlettään singlettänsä
singleittään singleittänsä
instructive
comitative
—singleineen singleinensä :

#### Derived terms

* singlekeskiö
* singlelevy
* vinyylisingle

#### See also

* pitkäsoitto

### Further reading

* “single”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (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: /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

* ↑ single in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

## Kapampangan
### Alternative forms

* singlai, singlay (obsolete)

### Etymology

From sangle.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /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: /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: /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: /siŋɡɫ̩/

### Noun

single (definite accusative singleı, plural singlelar)
* (music) single