UNITS
Noun
units
plural of unit
Anagrams
• Sintu, Tunis, Tunis., inust, suint
Source: Wiktionary
UNIT
U"nit, n. Etym: [Abbrev. from unity.]
1. A single thing or person.
2. (Arith.)
Definition: 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.)
Definition: 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 + b-1, when a2 + b2 = 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, unit of the fraction -- 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 (39.1Āŗ 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 39.8Āŗ Fahr. (about 231 cubic
inches) for liquid measure, etc.; in Great Britain, the pound
sterling, the pound troy, the yard, or -- 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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition