sui generis

Borrowed from Latin. From suī (“of its own”) + generis, the genitive of genus (“origin, kind, class”). Literally meaning “of its own kind/class”.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /suˑ.i ˈɡɛnɛɹɪs/, /sʊɪ d͡ʒəˈnɛɹɪs/

sui generis (not comparable)

1. In a class of its own; one of a kind.

   Synonyms: one of a kind, unique, original

   • 1828, Four Discourses on the Sacrifice and Priesthood of Jesus Christ: and on Atonement and Redemption, by John Pye Smith, page 67

     The transcendent case before us is absolutely sui generis.

   • 1994, Frances and Joseph Gies, “The Technology of the Commercial Revolution”, in Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel, →ISBN, page 111:

     The system was neither free enterprise nor socialism; it was sui generis, one of the unique creations of the Middle Ages.

   • 1995, How To Do Things With Words, by J.L. Austin

     We see him as he sees himself, surveying the invisible depths of ethical space, with all the distinction of a specialist in the sui generis.

2. (rarer) By itself; of its own.

   Synonym: per se

   It is nothing to worry about sui generis, but in context of the other factors it's alarming indeed.

Used as a legal term.

sui generis (plural none)

1. (incorrectly) A thing apart, an isolated specimen

From Latin.

sui generis (invariable)

1. sui generis