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.) 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,
¼ is the unit of the fraction ¾. — 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 (39.1° 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 39.8° Fahr. (about 231 cubic inches) for
liquid measure, etc.; in Great Britain, the pound sterling, the pound
troy, the yard, or part of the length of a second's pendulum at London,
the gallon of 277.274 cubic inches, etc.; in the metric system, the
meter, the liter, the gram, etc. — 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.
U*nit"a*ble (?), a. Capable of union by growth or otherwise. Owen.
U`ni*ta"ri*an (?), n. [Cf. F. unitaire, unitairien, NL. unitarius. See
Unity.] 1. (Theol.) One who denies the doctrine of the Trinity,
believing that God exists only in one person; a unipersonalist; also,
one of a denomination of Christians holding this belief.