different between merciful vs individual

English

Etymology

From Middle English merciful, mercyful, equivalent to mercy +? -ful.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?s?fl?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m??s?fl?/
• Hyphenation: mer?ci?ful

Adjective

merciful (comparative more merciful, superlative most merciful)

1. Showing mercy.
   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,

     The murderer, he recalled, had been tried and sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was pardoned by a merciful governor after serving a year of his sentence.

Synonyms

• ruthful

Antonyms

• merciless
• cruel

Derived terms

• mercifulness

Translations

Anagrams

• crimeful

English

Alternative forms

• individuall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Medieval Latin ind?vidu?lis, from Latin ind?viduum (“an indivisible thing”), neuter of ind?viduus (“indivisible, undivided”), from in + d?viduus (“divisible”), from d?vid? (“divide”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /??nd??v?d??u.?l/, /??nd??v?d??w?l/, /??nd??v?d???l/, /??nd??-/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??nd??v?d????l/, /??nd??v?d???l/, /??nd??-/
• (General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /??nd??v?d???.?l/, /??nd??v?d???l/

Noun

individual (plural individuals)

1. A person considered alone, rather than as belonging to a group of people.

2. (law) A single physical human being as a legal subject, as opposed to a legal person such as a corporation.
   • 1982, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms:

     Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination […].

3. An object, be it a thing or an agent, as contrasted to a class.
4. (statistics) An element belonging to a population.

Translations

Adjective

individual (comparative more individual, superlative most individual)

1. Relating to a single person or thing as opposed to more than one.

2. Intended for a single person as opposed to more than one person.

3. Not divisible without losing its identity.

Synonyms

• (relating to a single person or thing): single, self-standing
• (intended for a single person or thing): personal, single

Antonyms

• (relating to a single person or thing): collective
• (intended for a single person or thing): group, joint, shared

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• individual in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• individual in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• "individual" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 161.

Catalan

Noun

individual (masculine and feminine plural individuals)

1. individual

Derived terms

• individualisme
• individualista
• individualitzar
• individualment

Related terms

• individu
• individualitat

Further reading

• “individual” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Galician

Adjective

individual m or f (plural individuais)

1. individual

Derived terms

• individualismo
• individualista
• individualizar
• individualmente

Related terms

• individuo
• individualidade

Further reading

• “individual” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /?.d??i.vi.du.?aw/

Adjective

individual m or f (plural individuais, comparable)

1. individual

Derived terms

• individualismo
• individualista
• individualmente

Further reading

• “individual” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Romanian

Etymology

From French individuel

Adjective

individual m or n (feminine singular individual?, masculine plural individuali, feminine and neuter plural individuale)

1. individual

Declension

Related terms

• individualism
• individualist
• individualitate

Spanish

Adjective

individual (plural individuales)

1. individual
2. case-by-case
3. one-on-one (e.g., relationship or bond)
4. one-man (e.g., a one-man show)
5. personal, individualized

Derived terms

• individualismo
• individualista
• individualizar
• individualmente
• persecución individual

Related terms

• individuo
• individualidad

Noun

individual m (plural individuales)

1. place mat

Further reading

• “individual” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.