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unit |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Unit \U"nit\, n. [Abbrev. from unity.] 1. A single thing or person. 2. (Arith.) The least whole number; one Units are the integral parts of any large number. --I. Watts. 3. A gold coin of the reign of James I., of the value of twenty shillings. --Camden. 4. Any determinate amount or quantity (as of length, time, heat, value) adopted as a standard of measurement for other amounts or quantities of the same kind 5. (Math.) A single thing as a magnitude or number, regarded as an undivided whole. {Abstract unit}, the unit of numeration; one taken in the abstract; the number represented by 1. The term is used in distinction from concrete, or determinate, unit, that is a unit in which the kind of thing is expressed; a unit of measure or value; as 1 foot, 1 dollar, 1 pound, and the like {Complex unit} (Theory of Numbers), an imaginary number of the form a + broot{-1}, when a^{2} + b^{2} = 1. {Duodecimal unit}, a unit in the scale of numbers increasing or decreasing by twelves. {Fractional unit}, the unit of a fraction; the reciprocal of the denominator; thus 1/4 is the unit of the fraction 3/4. {Integral unit}, the unit of integral numbers, or 1. {Physical unit}, a value or magnitude conventionally adopted as a unit or standard in physical measurements. The various physical units are usually based on given units of length, mass, and time, and on the density or other properties of some substance, for example, water. See {Dyne}, {Erg}, {Farad}, {Ohm}, {Poundal}, etc {Unit deme} (Biol.), a unit of the inferior order or orders of individuality. {Unit jar} (Elec.), a small insulated Leyden jar, placed between the electrical machine and a larger jar or battery, so as to announce, by its repeated discharges, the amount of electricity passed into the larger jar. {Unit of heat} (Physics), a determinate quantity of heat adopted as a unit of measure; a thermal unit (see under {Thermal}). Water is the substance generally employed, the unit being one gram or one pound, and the temperature interval one degree of the Centigrade or Fahrenheit scale. When referred to the gram, it is called the gram degree. The British unit of heat, or thermal unit, used by engineers in England and in the United States, is the quantity of heat necessary to raise one pound of pure water at and near its temperature of greatest density (39.1[deg] Fahr.) through one degree of the Fahrenheit scale. --Rankine. {Unit of illumination}, the light of a sperm candle burning 120 grains per hour. Standard gas, burning at the rate of five cubic feet per hour, must have an illuminating power equal to that of fourteen such candles. {Unit of measure} (as of length, surface, volume, dry measure, liquid measure, money, weight, time, and the like), in general, a determinate quantity or magnitude of the kind designated, taken as a standard of comparison for others of the same kind in assigning to them numerical values, as 1 foot, 1 yard, 1 mile, 1 square foot, 1 square yard, 1 cubic foot, 1 peck, 1 bushel, 1 gallon, 1 cent, 1 ounce, 1 pound, 1 hour, and the like more specifically, the fundamental unit adopted in any system of weights, measures, or money, by which its several denominations are regulated, and which is itself defined by comparison with some known magnitude, either natural or empirical, as in the United States, the dollar for money, the pound avoirdupois for weight, the yard for length, the gallon of 8.3389 pounds avoirdupois of water at 39.8[deg] Fahr. (about 231 cubic inches) for liquid measure, etc.; in Great Britain, the pound sterling, the pound troy, the yard, or 1/108719 part of the length of a second's pendulum at London, the gallon of 277.274 cubic inches, etc.; in the metric system, the meter, the liter, the gram, etc {Unit of power}. (Mach.) See {Horse power}. {Unit of resistance}. (Elec.) See {Resistance}, n., 4, and {Ohm}. {Unit of work} (Physics), the amount of work done by a unit force acting through a unit distance, or the amount required to lift a unit weight through a unit distance against gravitation. See {Erg}, {Foot Pound}, {Kilogrammeter}. {Unit stress} (Mech. Physics), stress per unit of area; intensity of stress. It is expressed in ounces, pounds, tons, etc., per square inch, square foot, or square yard, etc., or in atmospheres, or inches of mercury or water, or the like From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: unit n 1: any division of quantity accepted as a standard of measurement or exchange; "the dollar is the United States unit of currency"; "a unit of wheat is a bushel"; "change per unit volume" [syn: {unit of measurement}] 2: an individual or group or structure or other entity regarded as a structural or functional constituent of a whole; "the reduced the number of units and installations"; "the word is a basic linguistic unit" 3: an organization regarded as part of a larger social group "the coach said the offensive unit did a good job"; "after the battle the soldier had trouble rejoining his unit" [syn: {social unit}] 4: an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; "how big is that part compared to the whole?"; "the repairman simply replaced the unit" [syn: {whole}, {whole thing}] 5: a single undivided whole; "an idea is not a unit that can be moved from one brain to another" 6: a combination of interrelated interacting artifacts designed to work as a coherent entity; "he bought a new stereo system"; "the unit consists of a motor and a small computer" [syn: {system}] 7: a single undivided natural entity occurring in the composition of something else; "units of nucleic acids" [syn: {building block}]
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