Translation
unique, one of a kind
Word origin
From Latin unicus, 'only, sole', built on unus ('one'). Esperanto borrowed the whole adjective from the international vocabulary rather than assembling it.
- Origin
- Latin
- Root
- unicus
- English cognates
- unique, unicorn, unit, union
Examples
.
Every person is unique.
.
That was a unique experience for us.
.
The museum has unique pictures from ancient times.
means one of a kind, the only one of its type in existence. It is not a synonym for "unusual", and it does not take or comfortably: a thing either is the only one or it is not. For merely unusual you want stranga or nekutima, and for remarkable, speciala.
Keep it apart from sola as well. is alone, on its own, the only one present: . is the only one that exists anywhere. and are different claims.
And the seam is false. You cannot build out of unu plus anything: Esperanto has no -ik- suffix that would do it, and unik- is a single unanalysable root. The Latin ancestors unus and unicus are of course related, so the resemblance is not pure coincidence, but that is history rather than word-building. To make an adjective from inside Esperanto you get , "first", which means something else entirely.
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unika: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "unika" (unique, one of a kind): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 36.