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unit

 - 6 dictionary results

u⋅nit

[yoo-nit]
–noun
1. a single thing or person.
2. any group of things or persons regarded as an entity: They formed a cohesive unit.
3. one of the individuals or groups that together constitute a whole; one of the parts or elements into which a whole may be divided or analyzed.
4. one of a number of things, organizations, etc., identical or equivalent in function or form: a rental unit; a unit of rolling stock.
5. any magnitude regarded as an independent whole; a single, indivisible entity.
6. Also called dimension. any specified amount of a quantity, as of length, volume, force, momentum, or time, by comparison with which any other quantity of the same kind is measured or estimated.
7. the least positive integer; one.
8. Also called unit's place.
a. (in a mixed number) the position of the first digit to the left of the decimal point.
b. (in a whole number) the position of the first digit from the right of the decimal point.
9. a machine, part, or system of machines having a specified purpose; apparatus: a heating unit.
10. Education. a division of instruction centering on a single theme.
11. Military. an organized body of soldiers, varying in size and constituting a subdivision of a larger body.
12. Medicine/Medical.
a. the measured amount of a substance necessary to cause a certain effect; a clinical quantity used when a substance cannot be readily isolated in pure form and its activity determined directly.
b. the amount necessary to cause a specific effect upon a specific animal or upon animal tissues.
13. Mathematics.
a. an identity element.
b. an element in a group, ring, etc., that possesses an inverse.

Origin:
1570; coined by John Dee as a trans. of Gk mónas (previously rendered as unity); perh. influenced by digit

Unit.

Unitarian.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To unit
u·nit   (yōō'nĭt)   
n.  
  1. An individual, group, structure, or other entity regarded as an elementary structural or functional constituent of a whole.

  2. A group regarded as a distinct entity within a larger group.

    1. A mechanical part or module.

    2. An entire apparatus or the equipment that performs a specific function.

    3. A fixed amount of scholastic study used as a basis for calculating academic credits, usually measured in hours of classroom instruction or laboratory work.

    4. A section of an academic course focusing on a selected theme: a unit on Native Americans.

    5. The lowest positive whole number; one.

    6. An element of a ring with a multiplicative inverse.

  3. A precisely specified quantity in terms of which the magnitudes of other quantities of the same kind can be stated.

  4. Medicine The quantity of a vaccine, serum, drug, or other agent necessary to produce a specific effect.

    1. A fixed amount of scholastic study used as a basis for calculating academic credits, usually measured in hours of classroom instruction or laboratory work.

    2. A section of an academic course focusing on a selected theme: a unit on Native Americans.

    3. The lowest positive whole number; one.

    4. An element of a ring with a multiplicative inverse.

  5. The number immediately to the left of the decimal point in the Arabic numeral system.

  6. Mathematics

    1. The lowest positive whole number; one.

    2. An element of a ring with a multiplicative inverse.


[Back-formation from unity.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Financial Dictionary

unit

See specialist unitunit of tradingunit share.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: unit
Pronunciation: 'yü-n&t
Function: noun
1 : an amount of a biologically active agent (as a drug or antigen) required toproduce a specific result under strictly controlled conditions unit of penicillin>
2 : a molecule or portion of a molecule especially as combined in a largermolecule
Medical Dictionary

unit u·nit (y&oomacr;'nĭt)
n.

  1. An entity regarded as an elementary structural or functional constituent of a whole.

  2. A precisely specified quantity in terms of which the magnitudes of other quantities of the same kind can be stated.

  3. The quantity of a serum, drug, or other agent necessary to produce a specific effect.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
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