Union Comes From the Latin for One
A union is the joining of things into a whole. The word covers marriage, states, trade organisations and mathematics.
A union is the action of joining things together, or the state of being joined. Latin *unus*, one, sits behind it: a union makes one thing from several. That covers a marriage, a federation of states, an organisation of workers and, in mathematics, the set containing every element of two sets combined. The *Union Jack* is named from the union of England, Scotland and Ireland, and *union* is the collective term in *trade union*, from the joining of workers.
- A joining. *The union of two firms.*
- A workers' organisation. *A trade union.*
- A federation. *The European Union.*
- A mathematical set. *The union of A and B.*
- Latin — *unus*, one. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | union | A union. |
| Plural | unions | Unions. |
| Verb | unite | Unite. |
| Adjective | unified | Unified. |
| Latin | unus | One. |
- The union of the two companies.Merger.
- He joined the union.Labour.
- The union of two sets.Mathematics.
The unus family
- Union — the making of one from several
- Unit — a single thing
- Unique — one of a kind
- Universe — turned into one
- Onion — from Latin *unio*, a single large pearl, then the bulb
Old French *union*, from Late Latin *unionem*, oneness, from Latin *unus*, one.
Is onion related to union?
Yes. Latin unio meant a single large pearl and was applied to the onion, presumably for its single rounded bulb.
What is a union in mathematics?
The set containing every element that appears in either of two sets, written with the symbol ∪.