Einstakar

Einstakar is an Icelandic term used largely as the plural form of einstakur, meaning solitary, single, or individual. In practice, einstakar refers to individual items or people within a larger set, often in contexts that contrast individuals with groups or aggregates. The word can function as an attributive adjective or as a plural noun when describing multiple distinct units.

Etymology and forms: The root ein- conveys the sense of "one" or "single," and the related adjective einstakur is used to describe singularity or uniqueness. Einstakar, as the nominative plural, is used to modify plural nouns and to refer to several solitary units in a dataset, sample, or narrative. Related forms include einstakur (singular masculine), einstök (singular for certain gender forms), and einstakt (neuter singular), though exact inflection varies with grammatical context.

Usage: In academic writing, einstakar appears in discussions that distinguish individuals from groups, embeddings in statistics, sociology, or ethnography. For example, a researcher might describe “einstakar í úrtaki” (individuals in the sample) to emphasize that results pertain to separate cases rather than a mass or average. The term is also seen in journalism and policy discourse when highlighting the experiences or characteristics of particular persons rather than the population as a whole.

See also: Icelandic language, einstakur, einstök, eining.

Notes: While einstakar is a legitimate plural form in Icelandic, its exact use can depend on regional variation and the syntactic role of the noun it accompanies.