Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The quality or condition of being singular.
- noun A trait marking one as distinct from others; a peculiarity.
- noun Something uncommon or unusual.
- noun Computers A hypothetical future point in time when artificial intelligence will surpass human intelligence and be able to self-replicate and improve itself autonomously.
- noun Astronomy & Physics A point in space-time, such as a black hole, at which matter has infinite density and infinitesimal volume and the curvature of space-time is infinite.
- noun Mathematics A point at which the derivative does not exist for a given function but every neighborhood of which contains points for which the derivative exists.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The state or character of being singular.
- noun Separateness from others; solitariness; specifically, celibacy.
- noun Individualism, as in conduct, opinion, characteristics, etc.
- noun Uniqueness; the state of having no duplicate, parallel, or peer.
- noun Unusualness; rareness; uncommon character; hence, specifically, rare excellence, value, eminence, or note.
- noun Variation from established or customary usage; eccentricity; oddity; strangeness.
- noun That which is singular; a singular person, thing, event, act, characteristic, mood, or the like; especially, an individual or personal peculiarity.
- noun In mathematics, an exceptional element or character of continuum.
- noun Synonyms Uncommonness, oddness.
- noun Idiosyncrasy. See
eccentric .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The quality or state of being singular; some character or quality of a thing by which it is distinguished from all, or from most, others; peculiarity.
- noun Anything singular, rare, or curious.
- noun Possession of a particular or exclusive privilege, prerogative, or distinction.
- noun obsolete Celibacy.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun the state of being
singular ,distinct ,peculiar ,uncommon orunusual - noun a point where all parallel lines meet
- noun a point where a measured variable reaches unmeasurable or infinite value
- noun mathematics the
value orrange of values of afunction for which aderivative does notexist - noun physics a
point orregion inspacetime in whichgravitational forces causematter to have aninfinite density ; associated withblack holes - noun A proposed point in the
technological future at whichartificial intelligences become capable ofaugmenting andimproving themselves, leading to anexplosive growth in intelligence. - noun obsolete Anything
singular , rare, or curious. - noun obsolete Possession of a particular or exclusive privilege, prerogative, or distinction.
- noun obsolete
celibacy
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun strangeness by virtue of being remarkable or unusual
- noun the quality of being one of a kind
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word singularity.
Examples
-
Many of us are familiar with the term singularity with respect to mathematics and space.
-
Many of us are familiar with the term singularity with respect to mathematics and space.
-
This singularity is a point in space-time of unlimited density.
Victor Stenger: Did the Universe Come From Nothing? Victor Stenger 2010
-
In astrophysical terms, a singularity is a point in space with no height, width, or depth – often with a whole star shoved inside.
-
In astrophysical terms, a singularity is a point in space with no height, width, or depth – often with a whole star shoved inside.
Of Singularities 2010
-
This singularity is a point in space-time of unlimited density.
Victor Stenger: Did the Universe Come From Nothing? Victor Stenger 2010
-
The term singularity is an analogy taken from physics that refers to the lack of knowledge that happens at the center of a black hole - its singularity.
-
This notion of the singularity is the most popular (although by no means the only) current theory.
Think Progress » Cheney: If You Don’t Support Everything I Do, You Aren’t Serious About Terrorism 2005
-
Even if Vinge and Kurzweil and all their talk of the 'singularity' is likely inflated, the fact remains we really do stand on the cusp of something unprecedented.
More Aesthetics Hal Duncan 2007
-
- The singularity is near: all the information gathered in the solar system should be explorable by everyone, that would be real value for the taxpayer.
-
In 1982, Vinge helped popularize a now common-place term: "the singularity", a point in human development where technological progress undergoes an uncontrollable growth, with unpredictable consequences.
RIP Vernor Vinge Andrew Liptak 2024
-
In 1982, Vinge helped popularize a now common-place term: "the singularity", a point in human development where technological progress undergoes an uncontrollable growth, with unpredictable consequences.
RIP Vernor Vinge Andrew Liptak 2024
milosrdenstvi commented on the word singularity
Ah! then you mean to say that this gentleman's smoke, instead of emulating the example of all other sorts of smoke, and going up the chimney, thinks proper to affect a singularity by taking the contrary direction?
-- Cox and Box
August 20, 2008
super-logos commented on the word singularity
Does it also not have a flavor of being rare or strange or momentous ?
August 20, 2008
stefanne commented on the word singularity
I was thinking of this word in more of the scientific sense of the word: the central-most point of a black hole, where matter is crushed to infinite density, the pull of gravity is infinitely strong, and spacetime has infinite curvature.
May 21, 2009
john commented on the word singularity
The concept of ultrasmart computers — machines with “greater than human intelligence�? — was dubbed “The Singularity�? in a 1993 paper by the computer scientist and science fiction writer Vernor Vinge. He argued that the acceleration of technological progress had led to “the edge of change comparable to the rise of human life on Earth.�?...
The science fiction author Ken MacLeod described the idea of the singularity as “the Rapture of the nerds.�?
The New York Times, The Coming Superbrain, by John Markoff, May 23, 2009
May 25, 2009
elohiwarrior commented on the word singularity
'I Dole On' should be the name used here for A1 eidolon, the comments made are of a nature that resembles the great 'Oz' behind a curtain of technocracy. The ability to have faith keeps the dream alive...
July 2, 2009