Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
individual (n.)
Commentators have fussed a good bit about individual used simply to mean “person,” as in He’s a nicely behaved individual, but I don’t know him well, without contrasting an individual with a group of some sort, and they are probably justified. Mostly when we use the word we do intend to distinguish the individual from the state, or from the crowd. Just don’t use it where person or man or woman would serve, if you want to avoid putting purists’ backs up. See also INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE; PARTY; PEOPLE; PERSON; SEXIST LANGUAGE.
