INDIVIDUAL, a. and n.

A. adj.

1. One in substance or essence; forming an indivisible entity; indivisible. Obs.

1619 M. FOTHERBY Atheom. I. vii. §I (1622) 50 Some make their god of Atomes, and indiuidual moates: some of diuidual numbers; as Epicurus, and Pythagoras. 1623 WHITBOURNE Newfoundland 56 In the name of the holy and indiuiduall Trinitie. 1641 MILTON Animadv. ii, This untheologicall Remonstrant would divide the individuall Catholicke Church into severall Republicks. 1678 CUDWORTH Intell. Syst. I. iv. §36. 611 It would be liable to misinterpretation, and to be taken, in the Sabellian sense, for that which hath one and the same singular and individual essence.

2. That cannot be separated; inseparable. Obs.

c1600 Timon I. ii. (1842) 6 Where ere thou go'st I still will folowe thee An indiuiduall mate. 1623 COCKERAM, Indiuiduall, not to bee parted, as man and wife. c1645 HOWELL Lett. I. III. ix, He..is an individual Companion to the King.  1667 MILTON P.L. IV. 486 To have thee by my side Henceforth an individual solace dear.

3. a. Existing as a separate indivisible entity; numerically one, single. b. Single, as distinct from others of the same kind; particular, special. Also absol. in phr. in the individual, in the particular case: opposed to in the general (GENERAL a. 11d).

1613 JACKSON Creed II. v. §5 Whether things indifferent in the general, or vnto many..be indifferent in the indiuiduall, to this or that particular man. 1651 BAXTER Inf. Bapt. 25 The whole Church must be so sanctified; therefore the individuall members. 1690 LOCKE Hum. Und. III. vi. §3 Our Idea of any individual Man would be..far different.

c. Expressing self-identity: Identical, self-same, very same. Obs.

1633 PRYNNE Histriomastix 177 To sport themselves with those individuall sinnes upon the Stage, which the parties..are condoling now in Hell? 1641 J. JACKSON True Evang. T. II. 130 Polycarpus, Bishop of Smirna, and some say that Individuall Angell of the Church of Smirna, whereunto the second of those seven Asiatique Epistles are written. 1655 MARQUIS OF WORCESTER Cent. Inv. §I Seals..setting down..the individual place where anything was sealed. 1681-6 J. SCOTT Chr. Life (1747) III. 228 That this Remnant still continued the same individual Kingdom of Christ with the former, tho' very much reformed and improved.

4. Distinguished from others by attributes of its own; marked by a peculiar and striking character.

1646 SIR T. BROWNE Pseud. Ep. I. V. 19 A man should be something that men are not, and individuall in somewhat beside his proper nature.

5. a. Of, pertaining or peculiar to, a single person or thing, or some one member of a class; characteristic of an individual.

1605 BACON Adv. Learn. I. iii. §4 As touching the Manners of learned men, it is a thing personall** and individuall.

b. individual name ( word), judgement (see quots.).

1641 MILTON Animadv. xiii, It is no individuall word, but a Collective.

B. n.

1. pl. Inseparable things: see A. 2. Obs.

1627 FELTHAM Resolves I. xix. (1628) 17 Humanity and Miserie are alwayes paralels: sometimes indiuiduals 1661 Lusoria (1696) 44 They are here Individuals, for no Demonstrance of Duty or Authority can distinguish them.

2. a. A single object or thing, or a group of things forming a single complex idea, and regarded as a unit; a single member of a natural class, collective group, or number.

1605 TIMME Quersit. I. iv. 17 We shall thoroughly discuss and ransacke euery particular individuall in his kinde.

b. Logic and Metaph. An object which is determined by properties peculiar to itself and cannot be subdivided into others of the same kind; spec. in Logic: An object included in a species, as a species is in a genus. See INDIVIDUUM.

1628 T. SPENCER Logick 44 It is not possible to know vntill wee come vnto indiuidualls..vntill we ataine vnto those things which doe not admit division. 1658 PHILLIPS s.v., An individual..in Logick..signifies that which cannot be divided into more of the same name or nature, and is by some called Singulare.

3. a. A single human being, as opposed to Society, the Family, etc.

1626 J. YATES Ibis ad Caesarem II. 12 margin, The Prophet saith not, God saw euery particular man in his bloud, or had compassion to say to euery Indiuiduall, Thou shalt liue. 1641 J. JACKSON True Evang. T. III. 213 Peace..is the very supporter of Individualls, Families, Churches, Commonwealths.

4. Short for individual person; person, personality, self. Obs.

1655 SIR E. NICHOLAS in N. Papers (Camden) 305 As to what concerns my owne poore indiuiduall, I am armed against all euents and deffy fortune to her teeth. 1678 CUDWORTH Intell. Syst. I. v. 674 They could not propagate their kind by generation, as neither indeed preserve their own individuals.

**Interesting here is Bacon's distinction between the personal and individual; this must be connected to a changing idea of personhood in general at this time.  Bacon approaches mankind in this piece in scientific, if not entirely atomistic terms.  I wonder if the subtlety of the language here is remnant of a previous notion of 'personal' (see link to OED discoveries) as collective.  That is, the references in the OED, particularly from Shakespeare, refer particularly to kings and leaders and the idea of the collective person - the 'royal we' if you will.