English
single
Single comes from Latin singulus ‘one each, one apiece’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sem- ‘one’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sem-‘one’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsingulus‘one each’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400sengle
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500single
- Englishearliest quotation 1526single
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sem-‘one’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsingulus‘one each’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400sengle
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500single
- Englishearliest quotation 1526single
Earliest quotation: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “Therefore, when thyne eye is single: then is all…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sem- ‘one’
some, same, seem, similar, simply, soft, sam, simple, simulation, resemblance, resemble, sincerely, anomaly, assemble, simultaneous, simulate, semblance, sincerity, anomalous, assimilate, homeopathic, synapse, homology, singularity, hyphen, insincere, sempre, synchronise, homolog, simulacrum, simile, 45 more
through Latin singulus ‘one each, one apiece’
Today it means
adj Not accompanied by anything else; one in number.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sem- / single