singularity

1. (mathematics) The value or range of values of a function for which a derivative does not exist.countableuncountable

2. (physics) Ellipsis of gravitational singularity (“a point or region in spacetime in which gravitational forces cause matter to have an infinite density; associated with black holes”).Examples: "At this singularity the laws of science and our ability to predict the future would break down. However, any observer who remained outside the black hole would not be affected by this failure of predictability, because neither light nor any other signal could reach him from the singularity."; "Consequently the interior of a black hole is empty, with a singularity at the centre."Synonyms: spacetime singularityabbreviationalt-ofcountableellipsisuncountable

3. (sometimes capitalized) Ellipsis of technological singularity (“a hypothetical turning point in the future, the culmination of ever-accelerating technological progress, when human history as we have known it ends, and a strange new era begins. For some writers, the catalyst is superhuman machine intelligence”).Examples: "One conversation centered on the ever accelerating progress of technology and changes in the mode of human life, which gives the appearance of approaching some essential singularity in the history of the race beyond which human affairs, as we know them, could not continue."; "Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended. […] I think it's fair to call this event a singularity ("the Singularity" for the purposes of this paper)."; "[Vernor] Vinge was among those (along with, notably, Ray Kurzweil) to discuss the transformation of humans by technology, coming in a matter of decades, referred to as "the singularity.""Synonyms: technological singularity, Kurzweil singularity, Singularityabbreviationalt-ofcapitalizedcountableellipsissometimesuncountable

4. (obsolete) Anything singular, rare, or curious.Examples: "Your Gallerie / Haue vve paſs'd through, not vvithout much content / In many ſingularities; […]"; "[N]either my Birth, my Education, nor the generall courſe of my life can promiſe no ſingularitie in any part of thoſe Actes they treate of: […]"; "He was badgered in that witness-box for an hour. By a distracting repetition of cross-examination he was forced to confess that he had seen and spoken to a human biped in broad daylight, yet could not recollect one singularity to distinguish this phantom from the flat mass of humanity."countableobsoleteuncountable

5. (obsolete) Possession of a particular or exclusive privilege, prerogative, or distinction.Examples: "St. Gregory, being himself a Bishop of Rome, and writing against the title of Universal Bishop, saith thus, "None of all my predecessors ever consented to use this ungodly title; no bishop of Rome ever took upon him this name of singularity.""; "Catholicism […] must be understood in opposition to the legal singularity of the Jewish nation."countableobsoleteuncountable