unmixed

Unmixed is an adjective describing something that has not been mixed with other substances or elements. It conveys a state of being pure, uniform, or single-component, in contrast to items that are blended, combined, or composite. In everyday language, unmixed is used to emphasize the absence of admixture, such as an unmixed flavor, an unmixed batch, or an unmixed population. The term is also used in more technical contexts where exact composition matters.

Originating from the negation of mixed, unmixed derives from the English prefix un- and the verb mix; the concept is closely related to purity, homogeneity, and simple composition.

In science, unmixed is often superseded by terms like pure, homogeneous, or immiscible, depending on meaning. If two substances do not distribute into a single phase, they are described as immiscible rather than unmixed, though older or informal writing may use unmixed. In fields such as geology or oceanography, unmixed layers or sediments refer to zones that have not undergone subsequent mixing processes.

In mathematics, unmixed has a specialized meaning. An ideal I in a Noetherian ring R is unmixed if all associated primes of R/I have the same height; equivalently, all minimal primes over I have the same height. This property reflects a uniform codimension of the components of the corresponding geometric object.

See also: homogeneous, pure substance, immiscible, unmixedness.