Uniform

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔː(r)m
• UK IPA: /ˈjuːnɪfɔːm/
• US enPR: yoÍžoʹnÉ™-fôrm, IPA: /ˈjunÉ™fÉ”rm/

Origin

Latin una ("one") + -form

Full definition of uniform

Adjective

1. Unvarying; all the same.
2. Consistent; conforming to one standard.
• HookerThe only doubt is ... how far churches are bound to be uniform in their ceremonies.
3. (mathematics) with speed of convergence not depending on choice of function argument; as in uniform continuity, uniform convergence

Derived terms

• uniformity
• uniformly

Noun

1. A distinctive outfit that serves to identify members of a group.
• 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 6, ‘… I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because “it was wicked to dress us like charity children”. â€¦â€™.
• F. W. RobertsonThere are many things which a soldier will do in his plain clothes which he scorns to do in his uniform.
• 2013-07-19, Peter Wilby, Finland spreads word on schools, Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16....There are no inspectors, no exams until the age of 18, no school league tables, no private tuition industry, no school uniforms. …
2. Phonetic equivalent for the letter U in the ICAO spelling alphabet, informally known as the NATO phonetic alphabet.
3. A uniformed police officer (as opposed to a detective).
• 1996, S. J. Rozan, Concourse,

• Skeletor held the gun against Speedo’s head, held Speedo between himself and the cops who stood, motionless and futile, where they’d stopped. Robinson, Lindfors, Carter, three uniforms and I watched helpless as Skeletor, dragging Speedy with him, inched out the gate, started backing down the hill.
• 2001, Christine Wiltz, The Last Madam: A Life in the New Orleans Underworld,

• Four men flew out of it, three uniforms and one in what appeared to be an English riding outfit—boots, whip, the whole nine yards. ... He called out, “I’m the superintendent of police.”
• 2004, , Penny Dreadful,

• Eyes to the front now and there was the body, a lump of black and brown. Moon counted three uniforms and a photographer, the medical examiner and his assistant.

Verb

1. (transitive) To clothe in a uniform.
• 1910, Robert W. Chambers, Ailsa Paige Chapter , You can't erect an army by uniforming and drilling a few hundred thousand clerks and farmers.