UNIT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does unit mean? 

• UNIT (noun)
  The noun UNIT has 6 senses:

1. any division of quantity accepted as a standard of measurement or exchange

2. an individual or group or structure or other entity regarded as a structural or functional constituent of a whole

3. an organization regarded as part of a larger social group

4. a single undivided whole

5. a single undivided natural thing occurring in the composition of something else

6. an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity

  Familiarity information: UNIT used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UNIT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any division of quantity accepted as a standard of measurement or exchange

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

unit; unit of measurement

Context example:

change per unit volume

Hypernyms ("unit" is a kind of...):

definite quantity (a specific measure of amount)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "unit"):

temperature unit (a unit of measurement for temperature)

Brinell number (measure of the hardness of a material)

telephone unit (a unit of measurement for telephone use)

sound unit (any acoustic unit of measurement)

printing unit (a unit of measurement for printing)

pressure unit (a unit measuring force per unit area)

pain unit (a unit measuring the intensity of pain)

million instructions per second; MIPS ((computer science) a unit for measuring the execution speed of a computer's CPU (but not the whole system))

teraflop; trillion floating point operations per second ((computer science) a unit for measuring the speed of a computer system)

weight; weight unit (a unit used to measure weight)

mass unit (a unit of measurement for mass)

unit of viscosity (a unit of measurement for viscosity)

energy unit; heat unit; work unit (a unit of measurement for work)

langley (unit of solar radiation)

point (the unit of counting in scoring a game or contest)

bit (a unit of measurement of information (from binary + digit); the amount of information in a system having two equiprobable states)

electrostatic unit (any of various units of electricity based on forces of interaction between electric charges)

capacity measure; capacity unit; cubage unit; cubature unit; cubic content unit; cubic measure; displacement unit; volume unit (a unit of measurement of volume or capacity)

measuring block; measuring unit (a unit of measurement)

denier (a unit of measurement for the fineness of silk or nylon or rayon)

diopter; dioptre (a unit of measurement of the refractive power of a lens which is equal to the reciprocal of the focal length measured in meters; used by oculists)

carat; karat; kt (the unit of measurement for the proportion of gold in an alloy; 18-karat gold is 75% gold; 24-karat gold is pure gold)

absorption unit (a unit for measuring absorption)

acceleration unit (a unit for measuring acceleration)

angular unit (a unit of measurement for angles)

area unit; square measure (a system of units used to measure areas)

megaflop; MFLOP; million floating point operations per second ((computer science) a unit for measuring the speed of a computer system)

computer memory unit (a unit for measuring computer memory)

electromagnetic unit; emu (any of various systems of units for measuring electricity and magnetism)

explosive unit (any unit for measuring the force of explosions)

force unit (a unit of measurement of physical force)

linear measure; linear unit (a unit of measurement of length)

metric; metric unit (a decimal unit of measurement of the metric system (based on meters and kilograms and seconds))

miles per gallon (the distance traveled in a vehicle powered by one gallon of gasoline or diesel fuel)

monetary unit (a unit of money)

Derivation:

unitize (separate or classify into units)

unitize (divide (bulk material) and process as units)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An individual or group or structure or other entity regarded as a structural or functional constituent of a whole

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Context example:

the word is a basic linguistic unit

Hypernyms ("unit" is a kind of...):

component; component part; constituent; part; portion (something determined in relation to something that includes it)

Derivation:

unitize (separate or classify into units)

unitize (divide (bulk material) and process as units)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An organization regarded as part of a larger social group

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

social unit; unit

Context example:

after the battle the soldier had trouble rejoining his unit

Hypernyms ("unit" is a kind of...):

organisation; organization (a group of people who work together)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "unit"):

den (a unit of 8 to 10 cub scouts)

fifth column; Trojan horse (a subversive group that supports the enemy and engages in espionage or sabotage; an enemy in your midst)

crew; gang; work party (an organized group of workmen)

combination (a group of people (often temporary) having a common purpose)

crew (the men and women who man a vehicle (ship, aircraft, etc.))

scout group; scout troop; troop (a unit of Girl or Boy Scouts)

outfit (any cohesive unit such as a military company)

political entity; political unit (a unit with political responsibilities)

side (one of two or more contesting groups)

working group; working party (a group of people working together temporarily until some goal is achieved)

task force (a semipermanent unit created to carry out a continuing task)

klavern (a local unit of the Ku Klux Klan)

administrative body; administrative unit (a unit with administrative responsibilities)

company (a unit of firefighters including their equipment)

family; home; house; household; menage (a social unit living together)

general delivery; poste restante (the part of a post office that handles mail for persons who call for it)

ICU; intensive care unit (a hospital unit staffed and equipped to provide intensive care)

member (an organization that is a member of another organization (especially a state that belongs to a group of nations))

force; military force; military group; military unit (a unit that is part of some military service)

squad; team (a cooperative unit (especially in sports))

instrumentality (a subsidiary organ of government created for a special purpose)

Derivation:

unitize (separate or classify into units)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A single undivided whole

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

an idea is not a unit that can be moved from one brain to another

Hypernyms ("unit" is a kind of...):

whole (all of something including all its component elements or parts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "unit"):

one (a single person or thing)

Derivation:

unify (become one)

unitize (separate or classify into units)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A single undivided natural thing occurring in the composition of something else

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

building block; unit

Context example:

units of nucleic acids

Hypernyms ("unit" is a kind of...):

thing (a separate and self-contained entity)

Meronyms (parts of "unit"):

part; piece (a portion of a natural object)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "unit"):

chain; chemical chain ((chemistry) a series of linked atoms (generally in an organic molecule))

couple ((physics) something joined by two equal and opposite forces that act along parallel lines)

unit cell (the smallest group of atoms or molecules whose repetition at regular intervals in three dimensions produces the lattices of a crystal)

chemical group; group; radical ((chemistry) two or more atoms bound together as a single unit and forming part of a molecule)

molecule ((physics and chemistry) the simplest structural unit of an element or compound)

Derivation:

unitize (separate or classify into units)

unitize (make into a unit)

unitize (divide (bulk material) and process as units)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity

Classified under:

Nouns with no superordinates

Synonyms:

unit; whole

Context example:

the team is a unit

Hypernyms ("unit" is a kind of...):

object; physical object (a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow)

Meronyms (parts of "unit"):

part; portion (something less than the whole of a human artifact)

section; segment (one of several parts or pieces that fit with others to constitute a whole object)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "unit"):

animate thing; living thing (a living (or once living) entity)

natural object (an object occurring naturally; not made by man)

artefact; artifact (a man-made object taken as a whole)

assembly (a unit consisting of components that have been fitted together)

item (a whole individual unit; especially when included in a list or collection)

aggregate; sum; total; totality (the whole amount)

congener (a whole (a thing or person) of the same kind or category as another)

Derivation:

unify (become one)

unify (to bring or combine together or with something else)

unitize (separate or classify into units)

unitize (make into a unit)

 Context examples 

Above 10 units is significant under international guidelines.

(Fish-Rich Diet Beneficial for Children with Asthma, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A purine base and a fundamental unit of adenine nucleotides.

(Adenine, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A unit of volumetric radioactivity concentration defined as a concentration of a radionuclide with an activity equal to one millionth of a curie per unit volume equal to one liter.

(Microcurie per Liter, NCI Thesaurus)

A metric unit of length equal to 10E-10 meter or 0.1 nanometer.

(Angstrom, NCI Thesaurus)

A dosing unit equal to the amount of active ingredient(s) contained in an ampule.

(Ampule Dosing Unit, NCI Thesaurus)

A unit of anti-coagulation factor potency determined using an in vitro clotting assay against the standard for coagulation factor concentrate.

(Anti-Coagulation Factor Unit, NCI Thesaurus)

One international unit of antihemophilic activity is equivalent to the quantity of antihemophilic factor (Factor VIII) present in 1 mL of normal human plasma.

(Anti-Hemophilia Factor Unit, NCI Thesaurus)

A unit of anti-factor Xa anticoagulation activity of unfractionated or low molecular weight heparin.

(Anti-Coagulation Factor Xa Unit, NCI Thesaurus)

One ampere represents 6.24 x 10E18 unit electric charge carriers, such as electrons, passing a specified fixed point in one second.

(Ampere, NCI Thesaurus)

Unit of measure of potency of allergenic product expressed as a number of allergy units per one milliliter of formulation.

(Allergy Unit per Milliliter, NCI Thesaurus)