single word requests - Is there a verb that fits in the pattern: quarter, third, halve (divide), [???], double, triple, quadruple. . .?


If these were nouns, I would assume "single" fits in between:



1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 1, 2, 3, 4 . . .


quarter, third, half, single or one, double, triple, quadruple . . .



Note that each word has a cardinal as part of its etymology: quarter evolved from the Latin quattuor ("four"), double from Latin duplus (“twofold”), and so on.


However, in the case of verbs, is there a word to indicate multiplying (or dividing) by one that fits into this pattern? The closest I can think of is unify, "cause to become one", but it wouldn't make sense in context:



She doubled the number, i.e. multiplied by two.
She unified the number, i.e. multiplied by one.



The word wouldn't necessarily have to have the mono- or uni- prefix, but the etymological root ought to contain the cardinal for one (i.e. "she maintained the number" wouldn't work) in keeping with the pattern.



Answer



I scoured the Internet until the wee hours of the morn and have found once:



adv. - (mathematics) multiplied by one: indicating that a number is multiplied by one


Etymology: . . .from Old English ānes (“of one”), genitive of ān (“one”)



This definition was not in every source I looked at, but it was used in this sense in math books of the nineteenth century, if not earlier. The form is usually: "once five is five". Unfortunately, a verb form doesn't appear to exist (e.g. "she onced seven"), and something like "she took once seven" would have to suffice. Someone may still be able to fill in the blank, though.


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