Single person
marital status; person not in a marital relationship
In legal definitions for interpersonal status, a person who is single is an individual not in a romantic relationship, married, or part of a civil union.
Terminology
Terminology for singleness varies, usually based on gender, language, and country. Generally, singles can be categorized by the following terms: never married, separated, divorced, and widowed.
English
Terms used to describe single men are seldom used, and carry positive connotations. Single men are often simply referred to as bachelors.
The English language has more terms for single, unwed women. These terms typically carry a negative connotation. Single women are sometimes called bachelorettes, especially in festive contexts in American English. However, the historic term for unwed women is spinster. The connotations of the word spinster have changed so much over time that it is now considered a derogatory term.
“Single person” enters the record as marital status; person not in a marital relationship. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Single, person and marital can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Single person” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Single, person and marital provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q908826. The Library of Congress control number is sh85122849. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Single person”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Single person primary sources, Single person archive and Single research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Single person”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Single person” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.