English
unique
Unique comes from Latin unicus ‘only, sole, single’, from ūnus ‘one’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘one’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁óynos1‘one’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*oinos1‘one’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEoinos1
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEūnus1‘one’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEunicus2‘only’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentunique2
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1859unique2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin unicus
- 2 Wiktionary, English unique
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1859, Thomas De Quincey: “The phoenix, the unique of birds.”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁óynosWiktionary, Latin unicus‘one’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*oinosWiktionary, Latin unicus‘one’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEoinosWiktionary, Latin unicus
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEūnusWiktionary, Latin unicus‘one’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEunicusWiktionary, English unique‘only’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentuniqueWiktionary, English unique
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1859uniqueWiktionary, English unique. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1859, Thomas De Quincey: “The phoenix, the unique of birds.”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with unique, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *ís ‘this, he’
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘one’
through Proto-Italic *oinos ‘one’
- null ← nul ← nul ← nūllus ← *noinolos
through Old Latin oinos
- universally ← universal ← universel ← ūniversālis ← ūniversus
through Latin ūnus ‘one’
- union ← unyoun ← ūniō
85 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
adj Being the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “unique”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin unicus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos / unique