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monad (mo´nàd´) noun
1.Philosophy. An indivisible, impenetrable unit of substance viewed as the basic constituent element of physical reality in the metaphysics of Leibnitz.
2.Biology. A single-celled microorganism, especially a flagellate protozoan of the genus Monas.
3.Chemistry. An atom or a radical with a valence of 1.

[Latin monas, monad-, unit, from Greek, from monos, single.]
- monad´ic (me-nàd´ik) or  monad´ical adjective
- monad´ically adverb
- mo´nadism noun

Science, 1711

German scholar G. W. Leibniz denies spontaneous generation and attempts to reconcile natural science with divine will. He expounds his conclusion that all living matter is composed not of dead atoms but of living "monads," infinite in their variety.

monad (noun)

existence: monad, a being, an entity, ens, essence, quiddity
unit: individual, atom, monad, entity, person
element: unit of being, monad

Culture

It is of the essence of imaginative culture that it transcends the limits both of the naturally possible and of the morally acceptable.
Northrop Frye (1912-91), Canadian literary critic. Anatomy of Criticism, second essay, "Anagogic Phase: Symbol as Monad" (1957).

Poetry

Between religion's "this is" and poetry's "but suppose this is," there must always be some kind of tension, until the possible and the actual meet at infinity.
Northrop Frye (1912-91), Canadian literary critic. Anatomy of Criticism, second essay, "Anagogic Phase: Symbol as Monad" (1957).

Monads are nonphysical, psychical substances whose forceful life is an immanent activity. For monads, there is no outer world to access, no larger, broader vision. What the monads see are the projections of their own appetites and their own ideas. In Leibniz's succinct phrase: "Monads have no windows." Like Indra's Net, each monad mirrors the whole world. Each monad represents the universe in concentrated form...Each microcosm contains the macrocosm." "While no unit directly contacts other units, each unit exists in synchronous time in the same reality. All their representations are coordinated. The coordination tacks place through the supervisory role of the Central Infinite Monad, traditionally known as "god".