individual Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a human being
    someone; somebody; soul; person; mortal.
    • there was too much for one person to do
  2. noun a single organism
  3. adjective being or characteristic of a single thing or person
    single.
    • individual drops of rain
    • please mark the individual pages
    • they went their individual ways
  4. adjective satellite separate and distinct from others of the same kind
    item-by-item; case-by-case.
    • mark the individual pages
    • on a case-by-case basis
  5. adjective satellite characteristic of or meant for a single person or thing
    single.
    • an individual serving
    • single occupancy
    • a single bed
  6. adjective satellite concerning one person exclusively
    private.
    • we all have individual cars
    • each room has a private bath

WordNet

In`di*vid"u*al adjective
Etymology
L. individuus indivisible; pref. in- not + dividuus divisible, fr. dividere to divide: cf. F. individuel. See Divide.
Definitions
  1. Not divided, or not to be divided; existing as one entity, or distinct being or object; single; one; as, an individual man, animal, or city.
    Mind has a being of its own, distinct from that of all other things, and is pure, unmingled, individual substance. A. Tucker.
    United as one individual soul. Milton.
  2. Of or pertaining to one only; peculiar to, or characteristic of, a single person or thing; distinctive; as, individual traits of character; individual exertions; individual peculiarities.
In`di*vid"u*al noun
Definitions
  1. A single person, animal, or thing of any kind; a thing or being incapable of separation or division, without losing its identity; especially, a human being; a person. Cowper.
    An object which is in the strict and primary sense one, and can not be logically divided, is called an individual. Whately.
    That individuals die, his will ordains. Dryden.
  2. (Zoöl.) (a) An independent, or partially independent, zooid of a compound animal. (b) The product of a single egg, whether it remains a single animal or becomes compound by budding or fission.

Webster 1913