unième

Unième is a rarely attested term in French that would denote the ordinal corresponding to the numeral one when ordinals are formed by attaching the suffix -ième to numerals. In standard modern French, however, the first ordinal is expressed as premier (masc.) or première (fem.), not unième. For numbers beyond one, the usual forms are deuxième, troisième, quatrième, and so on, with onzième, centième, millième, etc.

The word is mostly encountered in historical texts, linguistic discussions, or as an illustrative example in discussions of ordinal formation. It is not considered a productive or common part of everyday French, and its appearance today is generally marked as archaic, pedantic, or stylistic rather than normative. When it does appear, unième is typically treated as a nonstandard or exceptional form rather than a regular alternative to premier.

Etymologically, unième is understood as a construction based on the numeral un (one) combined with the general ordinal suffix -ième, following the same pattern that yields deuxième, troisième, and other ordinals. Unlike certain irregular ordinals, the potential existence of unième does not reflect a standard contemporary pronunciation or spelling in modern usage.

In practice, if you need to indicate the first position or order in current French, use premier/première. For all other ordinals, rely on the standard forms such as deuxième, troisième, onzième, centième, and so forth. Unième remains a historical or theoretical footnote rather than a commonly used word.