Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Single |
SingleAdjective1. Existing alone or consisting of one entity or part or aspect or individual; "upon the hill stood a single tower"; "had but a single thought which was to escape"; "a single survivor"; "a single serving"; "a single lens"; "a single thickness". 2. (botany; of flowers) having usually only one row or whorl of petals; "single chrysanthemums resemble daisies and may have more than one row of petals". 3. Not married or related to the unmarried state" "unmarried men and women"; "unmarried life"; "sex and the single girl"; "single parenthood"; "are you married or single?". 4. Characteristic of or meant for a single person or thing; "an individual serving"; "separate rooms"; "single occupancy"; "a single bed". 5. Having uniform application; "a single legal code for all". 6. Not divided among or brought to bear on more than one object or objective; "judging a contest with a single eye"; "a single devotion to duty"; "undivided affection"; "gained their exclusive attention". 7. Involved two individuals; "single combat". 8. Individual and distinct; "pegged down each separate branch to the earth"; "a gift for every single child". Noun1. A base hit on which the batter stops safely at first base. 2. The smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number; "he has the one but will need a two and three to go with it"; "they had lunch at one". Verb1. Hit a one-base hit, in baseball. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "single" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
Etymology: Single \Sin"gle\, adjective. [Latin singulus, a diminutive from the root in simplex simple; compare to Old English & Old French sengle, from Latin singulus. See Simple, and compare to Singular.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Census | , when used as a marital status category, is the sum of never-married, widowed, and divorced people. "Single," when used in the context of "single-parent family/household," means only one parent is present in the home. The parent may be never- married, widowed, divorced, or married, spouse absent. (references) |
Dream Interpretation | For married persons to dream that they are single, foretells that their union will not be harmonious, and constant despondency will confront them. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Industry | A strand of raw silk is composed of filaments reeled from 6 or 7 cocoons at the same time. Source: European Union. (references) |
Medicine | Room containing one bed for one person. Source: European Union. (references) |
Personal Care & Hotels | Of pertaining to, or suitable for one person only: a single room, a single bed. Source: European Union. (references) |
Public Administration | A joint of a drill pipe or tubing. Source: European Union. (references) |
Tips from 1870 | Usage: The First, Single. "I have not found the first objection to his candidacy." Say "a single objection," or "no objection." Source: Slips of Speech. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The analogue disc record was the main technology used for storing recorded sound in the 20th century. Its common names included gramophone record (British English), phonograph record (American English), record, album, disc, black disc, vinyl, and (more informally) platter or sides.
Introduction
It is an audio storage medium, most commonly used for preserving music. A gramophone record almost always consists of a disc engraved with a single concentric spiral groove on one side of the disc, in which a stylus or needle runs, from the outside edge towards the centre. (A small number of early phonograph systems and radio transcription discs started the groove from the inside rather than the edge of the disc, and a small number of novelty records were manufactured with multiple separate grooves.) The record spins at a certain speed, while the needle is held on a mobile arm, which gradually moves toward the centre of the record as it follows the spiral. Since the late 1910s, both sides of the record have usually been used for playing surfaces.
By the early 1990s digital media such as the compact disc surpassed the analogue disc in popularity, but analogue discs continue to be made (although in very limited quantities) into the 21st century.
Early history
Recording on disc as opposed to phonograph cylinder had been contemplated and experimented with by such inventors as Charles Cros, Thomas Edison, Chichester Bell, but the first to actually develop usable disc record technology was Emil Berliner, a German working in Washington, D.C, in 1884. He got patents in Berlin and Washington, DC for the record and the gramophone in 1887.
The first disc recordings for phonographs or gramophones were commercially marketed in 1895, and they gradually overtook the earlier phonograph cylinder as the dominant medium of recorded sound by the 1910s.
Early analogue disc records were originally made of various materials including hard rubber. In the early 20th century earlier materials were largely replaced by a rather brittle formula known as "shellac". The mass production of shellac records began in 1898 in Hanover, Germany. Shellac records were the most common until about 1950. Earliest speeds of rotation varied widely, but by 1910 records rotating at or about 78 or 80 times in one minute became standard, with 78 rpm becoming the standard in the late 1920s. This gave a common name for such records as 78s (or "seventy-eights"). This term did not come into use until after World War II when a need developed to distinguish the 78 from other newer disc record formats. Earlier they were just called records, or when there was a need to distinguish them from cylinders, disc records. Standard records was also used, although the same term had also been used earlier for 2 minute cylinders.
In the 1890s early discs were usually 7 inches in diameter. By 1910 the 10-inch record was by far the most popular standard, holding about 3 minutes of music or entertainment on a side. 12-inch records were also commercially sold, mostly of classical music or operatic selections, with 5 minutes of music per side.
Such records were usually sold separately, but sometimes in collections held in paper sleeves in a cardboard or leather book, similar to a photograph album, and called record albums. Also, empty record albums were sold that customers could use to store their disc records in.
Post-War formats
After World War II, the "78" was replaced by two competing formats: the 33 1/3 rpm (often just referred to as to 33 rpm), and the 45 rpm. The 33 1/3 rpm LP (for "Long Play") format was developed by Columbia Records and marketed in 1948. RCA Victor had developed the 45 rpm format years earlier but had not marketed it until 1949, in response to Columbia. Both types of new disc used narrower grooves, intended to be played with a smaller stylus, than the old "78s", so the new records were sometimes called Microgroove. All of these companies agreed to a common recording standard for improving quality called RIAA equalization.
The older 78 format continued to be mass produced along side the newer formats into the 1950s (and in a few countries, such as India, into the 1960s).
About the same time the most common substance for making disc records became vinyl. All speeds of records were made in various sizes, mainly 7, 10 and 12 inches diameter; the 7-inch being most common for the 45rpm, the 10-inch for the 78 (and the first few years of 33&1/3 production), and the 12-inch for the 33 from the mid 1950s on.
Disc records were extremely popular in their heyday, despite their well-known weaknesses. Throughout most of their period of popularity audio quality was below the best technically possible, but disc records were cheap to manufacture, and easy for the buyer to store and play back.
- A 45-rpm 7-inch was called a 45 (forty-five) or a single, because it usually held a single song on each side. It took over this role from the older standard of the 10-inch 78. Early on RCA sold albums of 45s of all types of music including long classical compositions, but after a few years even RCA recognized that the LP format developed by their competitor Columbia was a more practical format for most recordings other than singles. American 45s have 3/4" centre holes. Pressings made in other countries often have 1/4" holes, the same as LPs, set into removable 3/4" centres.
- A 45-rpm 12-inch format was introduced in Britain in the late 1970s. These so-called 12-inch singles could carry extended versions of songs, or carry the same material as regular singles with wider spacing between grooves, allowing for higher sound quality than regular singles.
- A 33-rpm 7-inch was known as an "EP" (extended play), with 2 or 3 songs per side. However, 45-rpm 7-inch EPs were also produced, using narrower groove spacing (and therefore lower sound quality) to carry 2 songs per side.
- A 33-rpm 12-inch (originally 10-inch) was an "LP" or long-playing record, with from 5 to 10 songs on each side. Because the same amount of music as on an entire album of old style 78s could be fitted on a single disc, some people took to calling these new discs albums even when referring to a single disc. Run time per side tended to increase from about 15 minutes to nearly 30 minutes, but most LPs during the 70s had a combined run time of 40 to 45 minutes, hence the popularity of the C90 compact audio cassette which runs for 45 continuous minutes per side.
- 16-rpm records, usually 12 inches, were also manufactured. These were of lower audio fidelity and mostly used for spoken word recordings. The most common of these were recorded readings of books made for the benefit of the visually impaired.
The discs were fragile. Shellac 78s were brittle and would shatter if dropped. While vinyl records were less subject to breakage they were more prone to being scratched on their unprotected surface, and were more easily warped out of shape by heat. Scratches could cause audio clicks and pops; the needle could skip to the next groove, bypassing that portion of the audio track; or it could skip backward, repeating the same portion of track over and over. If the hole in a record was not cut precisely in the centre the grooves would speed up and slow down once per revolution as the needle moved further from and then closer to the centre, causing changes in speed and pitch known as "wow".
Audiophiles would take great care of their records, often playing them on expensive equipment to get the best sound and impart the least wear to the disc. However, even with the best of care, keen ears could often detect slight surface noise and audio degradation after two to five playings of a vinyl record. Repeated use degraded the audio quality further.
As a practical matter, records provided adequate sound quality when treated with care and replaced after a reasonable number of playings. They were the music source of choice for radio stations for decades, and the switch to digital music libraries by radio stations has not produced a noticeable improvement in sound quality. The limitations of recording and mastering techniques had a greater impact on sound quality than the limitations of the record itself, at least until the 1980s.
Records were easy and inexpensive to manufacture, so they could be mass-produced. Also, with the advent of long-playing records, the album cover became more than just packaging and protection, and album cover art became an important part of the music marketing and consuming experience.
The analogue record mastering and pressing process
Recording the disc
For the first several decades of disc record manufacturing, sound was recorded directly on to the master disc (also called the matrix, sometimes just the master) at the recording studio. From about 1950 on (earlier for some large record companies, later for some small ones) it became usual to have the performance first recorded on audio tape, which would could then be processed and/or editied, and then dubbed on to the master disc.A Record cutter would engrave the grooves into the master disc. Early on theses master discs were soft wax, later on a harder lacquer was used.
Mass producing records
The soft master would then usually be electroplated with a metal, commonly a nickel alloy. When this metal was removed from the master, it would be a negative master (in some companies' terminology, this was called the master; note difference from master disc above). In the earliest days the negative master was used as a mold to press records sold to the public, but as demand for mass production of records grew, another step was added to the process.
The negative master mold is used to create metal positive discs, each called a mother. These mothers would then in turn be used to make more negatives, each called a stamper. The stampers would be used as the molds for the discs sold to the public. The advantages of this system over the earlier more direct system included ability to make more records more quickly by having multiple stampers pressing records at the same time, more records could be pressed from each record since much used molds would eventually wear out, and spare mothers as back ups.
The analogue record in the era of digital technology
Starting in the 1980s, vinyl records were gradually replaced in mainstream music consumer markets with the compact disc (CD). Vinyl records continue to be manufactured and sold today, although it is considered to be a niche market comprised of audiophiles, collectors, and disc jockeys (DJs).
Some audiophiles dispute the superiority of CDs. The lack of hiss or background crackling is dependent on the quality of the original recording. There are also inherent limitations of the 44 kHz sampling rate used for CDs, which tends to distort subtle phase differences that affect the psychoacoustic placement of the sound in the stereo image. The quality and clarity of the sound is very much dependent on the quality of the reproduction equipment, for example the DAC (Digital to analog converter).
The background noise one hears on a vinyl record has been compared to the patina of an oil painting -- a part of the work, not an imperfection to be eliminated; moreover, it has been claimed that some pre-CD recordings were made with this patina in mind. To further cloud the issue, some pop music released on CD has had crackles and hiss added artificially, for effect. See Lo-fi.
See also
- Vinyl record
- Turntablism
- Voyager Golden Record
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Analogue disc record."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Covalently bonded
hydrogen and carbon
MethaneCovalent bonding is a form of chemical bonding characterized by the sharing of one or more pairs of electrons by two atoms to produce a mutual attraction. The atoms tend to share electrons, so as to fill their outer electron shells. Commonly covalent bond implies the sharing of just a single pair of electrons. The sharing of two pairs is called a double bond and three pairs is called a triple bond. Aromatic rings of atoms and other resonant structures are held together by covalent bonds that are intermediate between single and double. The triple bond is relatively rare in nature, and two atoms are not observed to bond more than triply.
Covalent bonding most frequently occurs between atoms with similar electronegativities, where neither atom can provide sufficient energy to completely remove an electron from the other atom. Covalent bonds are more common between non-metals, whereas ionic bonding is more common between two metal atoms or a metal and a non-metal atom.
Covalent bonding tends to be stronger than other types of bonding, such as ionic bonding. In addition unlike ionic bonding, where ions are held together by a non-directional coulombic attraction, covalent bonds are highly directional. As a result, covalently bonded molecules tend to form in a relatively small number of characteristic shapes, exhibiting specific bonding angles.
The idea of covalent bonding can be traced to Gilbert N. Lewis, who in 1916 described the sharing of electron pairs between atoms. He introduced the so called Lewis Notation or Electron Dot Notation in which valence electrons (those in the outer shell) are represented as dots around the atomic symbols. Pairs of electrons located between atoms represent covalent bonds. Multiple pairs represent multiple bonds, such as double and triple bonds. Some examples of Electron Dot Notation are shown in the following figure. An alternate form in which bond-forming electron pairs are represented as solid lines is shown in blue.
While the idea of shared electron pairs provides an effective qualitative picture of covalent bonding, Quantum mechanics is needed to understand the nature of these bonds and predict the structures and properties of simple molecules. Heitler and London are credited with the first successful quantum mechanical explanation of a chemical bond, specifically that of molecular hydrogen, in 1927. Their work was based on the valence bond model, which assumes that a chemical bond is formed when there is good overlap between the atomic orbitals of participating atoms. These atomic orbitals are known to have specific angular relationships between each other, and thus the valence bond model can successfully predict the bond angles observed in simple molecules.
Today the valence bond model has largely been supplanted by the molecular orbital model. In this model, as atoms are brought together, the atomic orbitals interact so as to form a set of molecular orbitals, which extend over the entire molecule. Half of these orbitals tend to be bonding orbitals, while the other half are anti-bonding orbitals. Electrons in bonding orbitals result in the formation of a chemical bond, while those in anti-bonding orbitals prevent bonding. Electrons may also occupy non-bonding orbitals, which are neither bonding nor anti-bonding. The formation of a chemical bond is only possible when more electrons occupy bonding orbitals than anti-bonding orbitals.
The number of pairs of electrons in bonding orbitals in excess of those in anti-bonding orbitals determines the bond order. For example, in a diatomic molecule, there is a single bond if there is a balance of two electrons in bonding orbitals (as for H2), a double bond if there is a balance of four electrons in bonding orbitals (as for O2), and a triple bond if there is a balance of six electrons in bonding orbitals (as for N2). Bond order needn't be integral, and bonds can be delocalized among more than two atoms. In benzene for instance, the bond order is 1.5 amongst any two carbon atoms. This is called resonance. Bond length and bond dissociation energy are related inversely with bond order--the higher the order of the bond, the shorter and stronger the bond, for any given set of atoms.
Both carbon and silicon can theoretically form quadruple bonds. However, they are explosively unstable. The three shared orbitals in a triple bond can be imaged as being left, right, and out through you computer screen. The fourth orbital must bend these three away, and that makes quadruple bonds explosive; C2 molecules must be observed in a vacuum environment. Si2 molecules are even more unstable.
Using quantum mechanics it is possible to calculate the electronic structure, energy levels, bond angles, bond distances, dipole moments, and frequency spectra of simple molecules with a high degree of accuracy. Currently, bond distances and angles can be calculated as accurately as they can be measured (distances to a few pm and bond angles to a few degrees). For the case of small molecules, energy calculations are sufficiently accurate to be useful for determining thermodynamic heats of formation and kinetic activation energy barriers.
Dative covalent bonding occurs when one atom gives both of the electrons in the bond.
Cis and trans
Straight- or normal-chain (even-numbered), monoenoic components, i.e. with one double bond, make up a high proportion of the total fatty acids in most natural lipids. Normally the double bond is of the cis- or Z-configuration, although some fatty acids with trans- or E-double bonds are known.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Covalent bond."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In music, a single is a song considered commercially viable enough by the artist and record company to be released separately from an album, usually featuring on an album as well. It is often accompanied by several "B-sides" - usually songs which did not make it onto the album or remixes. See also: 45.In the UK, a single must meet certain criteria:
Anything which exceeds these requirements is categorised as an EP or an album.
- A maximum of twenty minutes for each single format, including multimedia content
- A maximum three different tracks for each format
- Each format must contain the featured song
- A maximum of 3 different formats (such as CD, DVD, 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, cassette)
Further research
- List of best selling singles
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Single."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In baseball, a single is the act of a batter safely reaching first base by striking the ball and getting to first before being made out, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay (see error) or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice.Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Single (baseball)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Single is a national park in New South Wales (Australia), 432 km north of Sydney.
Fact sheet
See also: Protected areas of New South Wales (Australia)
- Area: 2,563 ha
- Latitude: 29° 59' 49" S
- Longitude: 151° 24' 41" E
- Date of establishment: January 1, 1999
- Managing authorities: New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service
- IUCN category: II
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Single National Park."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| SIBO | English | SIxteen Bit Organizer or SIngle Board Organizer | Computer - (Psion, PDA) |
| SIKS | Italian | Coppia monoreddito con figli(Single Income Kids)(esiste anche la grafia minuscola siks). | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: SingleSynonyms: exclusive (adj), individual (adj), separate (adj), single(a) (adj), undivided (adj), unmarried (adj), ace (n), one (n), unity (n). (additional references) |
| Antonyms: double (adj), married (adj), multiple (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Celibacy | Verb: live single, live alone. |
Noun: celibacy, singleness, single blessedness; bachelorhood, bachelorship; misogamy, misogyny. | |
Adjective: unmarried, unwed, unwedded; wifeless, spouseless; single. | |
Choice | Select; pick and choose; pick out, single out; cull, glean, winnow; sift the chaff from the wheat, separate the chaff from the wheat, winnow the chaff from the wheat; pick up, pitch upon; pick one's way; indulge one;s fancy. |
Contention | Wrestling, greco-roman wrestling; pugilism, boxing, fisticuffs, the manly art of self-defense; spar, mill, set-to, round, bout, event, prize fighting; quarterstaff, single stick; gladiatorship, gymnastics; jiujitsu, jujutsu, kooshti, sumo; athletics, athletic sports; games of skill. |
Duel, duello; single combat, monomachy, satisfaction, passage d'armes, passage of arms, affair of honor; triangular duel; hostile meeting, digladiation; deeds of arms, feats of arms; appeal to arms; (warfare). | |
Continuity | Adverb: continuously; Adjective: seriatim; in a line; Noun: in succession, in turn; running, gradually, step by step, gradatim, at a stretch; in file, in column, in single file, in Indian file. |
Indication | Keyboard symbols, printing symbols; red letter, italics, sublineation, underlining, bold font; jotting; note, annotation, reference; blaze, cedilla, guillemets, hachure; quotation marks, double quotes,"", parentheses, brackets, braces, curly brackets, arrows, slashes; left parenthesis, "("; right parenthesis, ")"; opening bracket, ""; left curly brace, "{"; right curly brace, "}"; left arrow, ""; right arrow, ""; forward slash, "/"; backward slash, "\"; exclamation point, "!"; commercial at, "@"; pound sign, "#"; percent sign, "%"; carat, "^"; ampersand, "&"; asterisk, ""; hyphen, "-"; dash, "-", "_"; em dash, "--"; plus sign, "+", equals sign, "="; question mark, "?"; period, "."; semicolon, ";", colon, ":"; comma, ","; apostrophe, "'"; single quote, "'"; tilde, "~". |
Money | Single, one-dollar bill; two-dollar bill; five-dollar bill, fiver, fin, Lincoln; ten-dollar bill, sawbuck; twenty-dollar bill, Jackson, double sawbuck; fifty-dollar bill; hundred-dollar bill, C-note. |
Rashness | Carry too much sail, sail too near the wind, ride at single anchor, go out of one's depth. |
Seclusion Exclusion | Solitary; lonely, lonesome; isolated, single. |
Simpleness | Adjective: simple, uniform, of a piece, homogeneous, single, pure, sheer, neat. |
Unity | Phrase: natura il fece, e poi roppe la stampa; du fort au faible; "two souls with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one". |
Adjective: one, sole, single, solitary, unitary; individual, apart, alone; kithless. | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | If we all go for the blonde and block each other, not a single one of us is going to get her. So then we go for her friends, but they will all give us the cold shoulder because no on likes to be second choice (A Beautiful Mind; writing credit: Akiva Goldsman) I don't think we've had a single conversation about anything except your father (Eyes Wide Shut; writing credit: Arthur Schnitzler; Stanley Kubrick) That a mysterious, all-powerful God created the Universe, and then decided not to leave a single evidence of his existence (Contact; writing credit: Carl Sagan;) Well, next time you talk yo yourself, tell yourself you're still single and end the conversation (While You Were Sleeping; writing credit: Daniel G. Sullivan; Fredric LeBow) It is an army bred for a single purpose - to destroy the world of men. They will be here by nightfall (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; writing credit: Frances Walsh) | |
Lyrics | Ya always wuz commited, a poor single mother on welfare, (Dear Mama; performing artist: 2Pac) I pray every single day (What's up; performing artist: 4 Non Blondes) That I would like you to know that if you're ever single in the future and you (Unsent; performing artist: Alanis Morissette) With every single beat of my heart (I Swear; performing artist: All-4-One) I'm a blond single girl, in a fantasy world (Barbie Girl; performing artist: Aqua) | |
Clever | Satan hasn't a single salaried helper; the Opposition employs a million. (references; author: Mark Twain) Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. (references; author: unknown) A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic. (references; author: unknown) The wonder of a single snowflake outweighs the wisdom of a million meteorologists. (references; author: unknown) Married men revealed that they do what twice as often as single men? Change their underwear. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Single Girls (1973) Sex and the Single Vampire (1970) For Single Swingers Only (1968) Single Room Furnished (1968) Sorry I'm Single (1967) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References |
| ||
Books | |||
Periodicals |
| ||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
| ||
High Tech |
| ||
Consumer Goods |
| ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | (5) color slides of a single image of a human brain using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. Shows a bright blue color where brain cancer metastasizes in the occipital lobe. See artwork: GA-17 Horizons of Cancer Research. Credit: Unknown photographer/artist. |  | (2) color slides of a snow pea. (1) group of four snow peas, (1) single snow pea string. Credit: Renee Comet (photographer). |
 | This chancre is located on the posterior vaginal fourchette (where labia minora meet). The primary stage of syphilis is often marked by the appearance of a single sore – called a chancre, which is usually firm, round, small, and painless. Credit: CDC. |  | A urine specimen is observed 24 - 48hrs in a lab for the presence of any bacterial growth. Even without symptoms, the presence of at least 100,000 colonies of any single type of bacterium per/ml of urine, usually shows evidence of infection. Credit: CDC. |
 | First Picture of the Earth and Moon in a Single Frame. Credit: NASA. |  | This pair of images of a single star, taken with the European Space Agency's Faint Object ... Credit: NASA. |
 | A single leaf floats above the river; hundreds of migrating blueback herring and alewife are just below the surface. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |  | A single draft horse pulls wood to the restoration site at the Glade Bekken watershed. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |
 | Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Hermissenda, Hermissenda crassicornis, also known as the Opalescent Sea Slug, is found in a variety of habitats including mud flats, rocky shores and wharf pilings. Its body is up to 80 mm long. Its dorsal surface has a single orange stripe and bright "electric blue lines, but otherwise is variable in color. Kodiak to Baja California. Credit: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR). |  | Marine snow, detrital/particulate matter surrounding two adjacent pipes on reef. This configuration provided more habitat value than two single pipes laying apart. Credit: The Coral Kingdom. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Single flower" by Thomas Johansson Commentary: "One single white flower, photo taken in the spring in Sweden." | "A Single White" by Lynn Cummings Commentary: "White bloom against black background." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Play | Caption | Play | Caption |
 | An urban blues piece playing a single chorus of the blues. | | Single staccato melody performed on a piano. |
| A single arpeggiating digital guitar. | | A single gamelan gong. |
| Electric guitar playing musical note; a single tone plucked on a steel string guitar. | | A single synthesized bass note. |
| A single mid-sized triangle being hit with a beater. | | A single dime being tossed onto a table or floor. |
| Electric guitar bending a slightly distorted single note. | | A single ethnic aerophone tone. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Aristotle | What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. |
Benjamin Disraeli | He has not a single redeeming defect. |
Homer | The single best augury is to fight for one's country. |
Jean De La Bruyere | They that have lived a single day have lived an age. |
Jean Racine | A single word often betrays a great design. |
Lizz Winstead | I think-therefore I'm single. |
Penny Press | A single fact will often spoil an interesting argument. |
Ralph Waldo Emerson | A cynic can chill and dishearten with a single word. |
Samuel Taylor Coleridge | No one does anything from a single motive. |
Virgil | From a single crime know the nation. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
John Locke | 1690 | A single hereditary person, having the constant, supreme, executive power, and with it the power of convoking and dissolving the other two within certain periods of time. (Second Treatise of Government) |
Communist Manifesto | 1848 | In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property. (reference) |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | The administration of this single unit will be carried on by a manager named by the Central Rhine Commission, which shall also have power to remove him. (reference) |
Winston S. Churchill | 1946 | It could have been prevented in my belief without the firing of a single shot, and Germany might be powerful, prosperous and honored to-day; but no one would listen and one by one we were all sucked into the awful whirlpool. ("Iron Curtain" Speech) |
Roe v. Wade | 1973 | A pregnant single woman (Roe) brought a class action challenging the constitutionality of the Texas criminal abortion laws, which proscribe procuring or attempting an abortion except on medical advice for the purpose of saving the mother's life. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Flight to Arras | Antoine de Saint-Exupery | A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral |
Emma | Austen, Jane | But, as it is, the disappointment is single, and, I trust, will not be lasting |
Sylvie and Bruno Concluded | Carroll, Lewis | As we passed the head of the lane that led down to the beach, I noticed a single figure moving slowly along it, seawards |
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency | Douglas Adams | Not a single droplet formed |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Mademoiselle Vaubois, perfect in her kind, was the ermine of stupidity without a single stain of intelligence |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | And every single fellow had a different way of walking |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | I lost my land, a single tractor took my land |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift, Jonathan | I reflected what a mortification it must prove to me to appear as inconsiderable in this nation as one single Lilliputian would be among us. |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | Yet a single glass of its water held up to the light is as colorless as an equal quantity of air. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Autism has no single cause. (references) | |
SPECT -- see single photon emission computerized tomography. (references) | ||
They can be raised or flat, single or multiple, small or large. (references) | ||
Business | Single households generally have a relatively high per-capita income. (references) | |
The U.K. chemist chain Boots holds the single largest share at 30 percent. (references) | ||
The AAI is the single largest spender on airport infrastructure development. (references) | ||
Children | Belarus | According to a 1999 World Bank study, the majority of those living in poverty were families with multiple children or single mothers. (references) |
Mozambique | The mortality rate for infants was 135 per 1,000, and for children under the age of 5 it was 201 per 1,000. The Maputo City Women and Social Action Coordination Office continued its program of rescuing abandoned orphans and assisting single mothers who head families of three or more persons. (references) | |
Civil Liberties | Cape Verde | There was a single, private sector Internet service provider. (references) |
Economic History | Lebanon | Shi'a Muslims make up the single largest sect. (references) |
Israel | Israel and the PA constitute a single customs entity. (references) | |
Argentina | Foreign companies may carry out any single transaction. (references) | |
Human Rights | Portugal | For lesser crimes, a single judge presides. (references) |
Burma | Bedding, if any, consists of a single mat on the floor. (references) | |
Suriname | Trials are before a single judge, with the right of appeal. (references) | |
Indigenous People | Mexico | Indigenous rights groups launched numerous lawsuits and legal challenges to the reform's constitutionality, including 247 challenges filed in a single day by leaders of an equal number of municipalities in Oaxaca. (references) |
Belize | Among the country's indigenous people, the Mopan and Ke'kchi are grouped under the general term Maya, although their leaders say that they should be identified as the Masenal, meaning "common people." The Maya have sought official recognition of their communal claims to land, but the Government has been reluctant to single out one ethnic group for special consideration. (references) | |
Minorities | Philippines | At least 5 million Muslims, who constitute approximately 7 percent of the population, reside principally in Mindanao and nearby islands and are the largest single minority group in the country. (references) |
Political Economy | Tunisia | Tunisia is a republic dominated by a single political party. (references) |
Finland | As of January 1, 2002, Finland will switch over to the single European currency. (references) | |
RUSSIA | So far, there has not been a single successful anti-dumping action under the law. (references) | |
Political Rights | Kazakhstan | The other 67 seats were attributed by single mandate districts. (references) |
Somalia | Puntland has a single chamber quasi-legislative branch known as the Council of Elders, which plays a largely consultative role. (references) | |
Grenada | In 2000 a Member of Parliament changed party affiliation to become the single elected opposition member, leaving the NNP with a majority of 14 seats. (references) | |
Trade | India | India is one of the single largest borrowers of World Bank and IDA funds. (references) |
India | Guarantees may be for a single transaction or a revolving line of credit. (references) | |
India | Policies may be obtained for single or repetitive export sales and for leases. (references) | |
Travel | Vietnam | Vietnam consists of a single time zone. (references) |
Chad | Single room: USD 20.00-30.00, plus breakfast. (references) | |
Saudi Arabia | One-time visitors on a single entry visa do not need an exit permit. (references) | |
Women | Central African Republic | Single, divorced, or widowed women, even with children, are not considered socially to be heads of households. (references) |
Iran | In September 2000, the Majles approved a controversial bill to allow single women to travel abroad for graduate education. (references) | |
Belarus | In 1999 the regime reported that approximately 64 percent of those considered to be long-term unemployed were single mothers. (references) | |
Worker Rights | United Arab Emirates | Twenty-one workers were injured in a single accident in January. (references) |
Poland | Ukraine is the largest single source of foreign women trafficked in Poland. (references) | |
Luxembourg | The minimum wage for a single worker over the age of 18 is $6.34 (LUF 285) per hour. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | ELECTRICITY, n. The power that causes all natural phenomena not known to be caused by something else. It is the same thing as lightning, and its famous attempt to strike Dr. Franklin is one of the most picturesque incidents in that great and good man's career. The memory of Dr. Franklin is justly held in great reverence, particularly in France, where a waxen effigy of him was recently on exhibition, bearing the following touching account of his life and services to science: "Monsieur Franqulin, inventor of electricity. This illustrious savant, after having made several voyages around the world, died on the Sandwich Islands and was devoured by savages, of whom not a single fragment was ever recovered." Electricity seems destined to play a most important part in the arts and industries. The question of its economical application to some purposes is still unsettled, but experiment has already proved that it will propel a street car better than a gas jet and give more light than a horse. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Beth Veglahn | Well, the circumstances was I was a single mother at that time and I had to work. I had to go to work. And I worked four hours at night. And it usually was on Fridays. I had the weekends off and that's what I could come up with. |
Chris Dodd | It's a simple enough question. The American people are going to pay for this. They'd like to have some idea. Don't tell me for a single second that the people at the Pentagon don't have some estimates here. |
Dennis Miller | Now because of technology we can go through the entire day without ever talking to a single living person. |
Rush Limbaugh | I dare anyone to find a single person in America who believes this. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Abraham Lincoln | 1861-1865 | Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. |
Herbert C. Hoover | 1929-1933 | One civilization after another has been wrecked upon the attempt to secure sufficient leadership from a single group or class. |
Harry S. Truman | 1945-1953 | Our own part in this accomplishment was not the product of any single service. |
John F. Kennedy | 1961-1963 | Assuming the accession of the United Kingdom, there will arise across the Atlantic a trading partner behind a single external tariff similar to ours with an economy which nearly equals our own. |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963-1969 | Success cannot be forced at a single stroke. |
Richard Nixon | 1969-1974 | Only a few short weeks ago, we shared the glory of man's first sight of the world as God sees it, as a single sphere reflecting light in the darkness. |
Jimmy Carter | 1977-1981 | There are times of emergency, when a nation and its leaders must bring their energies to bear on a single urgent task. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | But he left office honorably and, as it turned out, temporarily, knowing that the liberty of his people was more important than the fate of any single leader. |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | Tonight, not a single Russian missile is aimed at our homes or our children. |
George W. Bush | 2001-2005 | With the No Child Left Behind Act, we have committed the nation to higher standards for every single public school. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Single" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 98.84% of the time. "Single" is used about 16,797 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 98.84% | 16,602 | 560 |
| Noun (singular) | 0.98% | 165 | 24,305 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 0.1% | 16 | 87,710 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 0.08% | 13 | 97,576 |
| Total | 100.00% | 16,797 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from
