Union has 17 different meanings across 3 categories:
Noun · Adjective · Proper Noun
an organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer
"you have to join the union in order to get a job"
the act of pairing a male and female for reproductive purposes
"the casual couplings of adolescents"
"the mating of some species occurs only in the spring"
the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce)
"a long and happy marriage"
"God bless this union"
healing process involving the growing together of the edges of a wound or the growing together of broken bones
"The doctor told me that the bone fracture is showing good signs for union, as the two ends are finally knitting back together."
a political unit formed from previously independent people or organizations
"the Soviet Union"
the occurrence of a uniting of separate parts
"lightning produced an unusual union of the metals"
a device on a national flag emblematic of the union of two or more sovereignties (typically in the upper inner corner)
"The new passport design prominently features the golden union in the canton, symbolizing the merged kingdoms."
the act of making or becoming a single unit
"the union of opposing factions"
"he looked forward to the unification of his family for the holidays"
The act of uniting or joining two or more things into one.
"The restored steam engine was a rare surviving example of a Union Pacific 0-10-2 mountain type, prized for its powerful driving wheels and large firebox."
The 0-10-2 locomotive wheel arrangement.
In plain English: A union is when people join together to work as a group for their own benefit.
"The teachers union voted to strike over lower pay."
To combine sets using the union operation.
"To find all possible outcomes, I combined the two sets of data by taking their union."
In plain English: To union means to join two things together as one.
"The two companies plan to union their operations to cut costs."
Usage: Use this verb when combining two or more mathematical sets into one collection that contains all unique elements from each set, such as in programming code like `set1.union(set2)`. It is specific to formal logic and mathematics rather than general language where "combine" would be the preferred synonym.
The United States of America.
"The union was founded on principles that many citizens still hold dear today."
The word "union" entered English via the Old French union, which was borrowed from the Late Latin term meaning "oneness." It ultimately traces back to the Latin root for "one," reflecting its original sense of unity or a single state.