unit: [16] The term unit was given general currency by the 16th-century English mathematician, astrologer, and magician John Dee. It was formed from Latin ūnus, probably on the analogy of digit, and used as a mathematical term to replace unity as a translation of Euclid’s monás ‘indivisible number’. In a comment added to his introduction to Sir Henry Billingsley’s translation of Euclid, Dee wrote ‘Note the word unit to express the Greek monas, and not unity: as we have all commonly until now used’.
unit (n.)
1560s, "single number regarded as an undivided whole," alteration of unity on the basis of digit. Popularized in John Dee's English translation of Euclid, to express Greek monas (Dee says unity formerly was used in this sense). Meaning "single thing regarded as a member of a group" is attested from 1640s. Extended sense of "a quantity adopted as a standard of measure" is from 1738. Sense of "group of wards in a hospital" is attested from 1893.
双语例句
1. The unit's exports will total $85 million this year.
该部门今年的出口总额将达8,500万美元。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Their unit was shelling the German lines only seven miles away.
他们的部队在炮轰仅有7英里之遥的德军防线。
来自柯林斯例句
3. From the smallest to the largest production unit, no one escaped notice.
从最小的到最大的生产单位，全都在监控之下。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Each unit including the parent company has its own, local management.
包括母公司在内，每个单位都有自己的地方管理层。
来自柯林斯例句
5. The Indian cavalry under Haig became a functionally efficient unit.
