units definition | Dictionary.com

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.

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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u·nit (yōō'nĭt)

An individual, group, structure, or other entity regarded as an elementary structural or functional constituent of a whole.
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.
A precisely specified quantity in terms of which the magnitudes of other quantities of the same kind can be stated.
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.
The number immediately to the left of the decimal point in the Arabic numeral system.
Mathematics
1. The lowest positive whole number; one.
2. An element of a ring with a multiplicative inverse.

[Back-formation from unity.]

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