unity

Everyday

1. Being joined together as one, or people agreeing and working together. tree →
2. (maths) The number one; «unity» is an old word for 1. tree →
3. (church) Christians pray for the unity of the church, meaning all believers together as one family. tree →

In the lessons

In stories and on the news unity means a team, family or country standing together. In maths, very old or advanced books say «unity» for 1. In church life it links to ecumenism, when different churches work together. Phrases: «in unity», «national unity», «a show of unity», «unity is strength».

Examples

• The team showed real unity in the final. tree →
• Unity is strength: together we can do more. tree →
• The country needed unity after the storm. tree →
• The churches held a service for Christian unity. tree →
• The class flag was a sign of our unity. tree →
• In old maths books, unity means the number one. tree →
• There was no unity in the group; everyone wanted something different. tree →
• In the Kalevala, when Lemmenkaeinen has been torn to pieces, his mother collects his scattered remains, and by a dexterous synthetical operation restores him to physical unity. tree →

Note

Usually uncountable. Adjective: united; verb: unite. Do not confuse with «uniformity», which means everything is the same; unity can include different people working together.

In Jewish tradition

In Sefer Yetzirah this means the oneness of God and the way thought, speech and action are joined as one in Him.

Interpretation. Jewish tradition holds that God is One and has no parts. The commentator here reads God's thinking, speaking and writing as a single act.

Examples

• can only be again a unity. (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) tree →
• and its reduction to writing, form a unity which produce a creative effect. 1 (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) tree →
• Thought, speech and action are an inseparable unity in the divine being; God made or created, is metaphorically expressed by the word: writing. (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) tree →
• Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! (Writings PSA.133.1, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Usually uncountable. Adjective: united; verb: unite. Do not confuse with «uniformity», which means everything is the same; unity can include different people working together.