# monad

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈmɒnæd/ · frequency rank #63,086

## Definitions
1. One thing, one being, one item.
2. A group of entities or items treated as one entity.
3. An ultimate atom, or simple, unextended point; something ultimate and indivisible.
4. A single individual (such as a pollen grain) that is free from others, not united in a group.
5. A single-celled organism. (See Monas.)
6. A monoid object in the category of endofunctors of a fixed category.
7. A data type which represents a specific form of computation, along with the operations "return" and "bind".

## Etymology
From Latin monas (“unit”) (from Ancient Greek μονάς (monás), from μόνος (mónos), from Proto-Indo-European *men-). By surface analysis, mono- + -ad.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/monad