Ŭn'ion, n.

(yŭn'yun) (Synop., § 130), n. [Fr. & Sp. union, It. unione, Pr. & Lat. unio, from Lat. unus, one.]

1Sense 1. The act of uniting or joining two or more things into one; or the state of being united or joined; junction; coalition; combination.

☞ Union differs from connection, as it implies the bodies to be in contact, without an intervening body; whereas things may be connected by the intervention of a third body, as by a cord or chain.

2Sense 2. Agreement and conjunction of mind, spirit, will, affections, or the like; harmony; concord.

3Sense 3. That which is united, or made one; something formed by a combination or coalition of parts or members; a confederation; a consolidated body; as, the United States of America are often called the Union. Marshall. Hamilton.

4Sense 4. A large, fine pearl. [Obs.]

If they [pearls] be white, great, round, smooth, and weighty, — qualities, I may tell you, not easily to be found all in one, insomuch as it is impossible to find out two perfectly sorted together in all these points. And hereupon it is that our dainties and delicates here at Rome have devised this name for them, and call them unions, as a man would say “singular,” and by themselves alone. Holland.

In the cup a union shall he throw Richer than that which four successive kings In Denmark’s crown have worn. Shak.

5Sense 5. The upper, inner corner of an ensign, in distinction from the rest of the flag, which is called the fly.

☞ The union of the United States ensign is a blue field with white stars, denoting the union of the States, and, properly, equal in number to that of the States; the fly being composed of alternate stripes of red and white. The union of the British ensign is a like field bearing the three crosses of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick, in combination, denoting the union of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

6Sense 6. A joint, screw, or other connection, uniting parts of machinery, or the like, as the elastic pipe of a tender connecting it with the feed-pipe of a locomotive engine.

Hypostatic union (Theol.), the personal union of the divine and human natures in Christ, that is, so as to constitute one person with two natures. — Legislative union, the union of Great Britain and Ireland, in 1800. — Union, or Act of Union (Eng. Hist.), the act by which Scotland was united to England, or by which the two kingdoms were incorporated into one, in 1707. — Union by the first intention (Surg.), the process by which the opposite surfaces of recent wounds, when they are kept in contact with each other, grow together and unite without suppuration — the result of a self-healing power in living bodies. — Union down, a signal of distress at sea made by reversing the flag, or turning its union downward.

Synonyms— Unity; junction; connection; concord; alliance; coalition; combination; confederacy. — Union, UNITY. Union is the act of bringing two or more things together so as to make but one. Unity is a state of simple oneness, either of essence, as the unity of God, or of action, feeling, &c., as unity of design, of affection, &c. Thus, we may speak of effecting a union of interests which shall result in a perfect unity of labor and interest in securing a given object.

One kingdom, joy, and union without end. Milton.

Man is to beget Like of his like; his image multiplied In unity defective; which requires Collateral love and dearest amity. Milton.