different between eclectic vs unique

English

Alternative forms

• eclectick (obsolete)

Etymology

From French éclectique, from Ancient Greek ?????????? (eklektikós, “selective”), from ?????? (eklég?, “I pick, choose”), from ?? (ek, “out, from”) + ???? (lég?, “I choose, count”).

Cognate to elect

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?l?k.t?k/, /??kl?k.t?k/
• Rhymes: -?kt?k

Adjective

eclectic (comparative more eclectic, superlative most eclectic)

1. Selecting a mixture of what appears to be best of various doctrines, methods or styles.
   • 1893, John Robson, Hinduism and its Relations to Christianity, page 211, 214

     Chunder Sen and the Progressive Brahmists broke entirely with Hinduism...and he selected from the scriptures of all creeds what seemed best in them for instruction and for worship. […] It is an eclectic religion: it seeks to select what is good from all religions, and it has become the latest evidence that no eclectic religion can ever influence large numbers of men.

2. Unrelated and unspecialized; heterogeneous.

Synonyms

• (unrelated and unspecialized): heterogeneous; see also Thesaurus:heterogeneous

Antonyms

• (selecting a mixture of doctrines): exclusive, homogeneous, orthodox, standard, uniform; see also Thesaurus:homogeneous

Derived terms

• eclectically
• eclecticism

Translations

See also

• cherry pick
• heteroclite
• holistic

Noun

eclectic (plural eclectics)

1. Someone who selects according to the eclectic method.

Translations

Romanian

Etymology

From French éclectique

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e?klek.tik/

Adjective

eclectic m or n (feminine singular eclectic?, masculine plural eclectici, feminine and neuter plural eclectice)

1. eclectic

Declension

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French unique.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ju??ni?k/
• Rhymes: -i?k

Adjective

unique (comparative uniquer or more unique, superlative uniquest or most unique)

1. (not comparable) Being the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched.

   Synonyms: one of a kind, sui generis, singular

2. Of a feature, such that only one holder has it.
3. Particular, characteristic.
4. (proscribed) Of a rare quality, unusual.

Usage notes

• The comparative and superlative forms uniquer or more unique and uniquest or most unique, as well as the use of unique with modifiers as in fairly unique and very unique, are grammatically proscribed, with the reasoning that either something is unique or it is not.

Derived terms

• uniquely
• uniqueness
• uniquity

Related terms

• unicity
• one-of-a-kind
• inimitable

Translations

Noun

unique (plural uniques)

1. A thing without a like; something unequalled or unparallelled; one of a kind.
   • a. 1859, Thomas De Quincey, Language

     The phoenix, the unique of birds.

Translations

Further reading

• unique in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• unique in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• “unique” in Roget's Thesaurus, T. Y. Crowell Co., 1911.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ?nicus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /y.nik/

Adjective

unique (plural uniques)

1. unique
2. only

Derived terms

Related terms

• un

Descendants

• ? Danish: unik
• ? Dutch: uniek
• ? Norwegian Bokmål: unik
• ? Norwegian Nynorsk: unik
• ? Swedish: unik
• ? Turkish: ünik

Further reading

• “unique” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).