Final answer:
The function that removes duplicates from a list and returns unique items is termed 'unique' and has various implementations in different programming languages, such as the 'set()' function in Python and the 'DISTINCT' keyword in SQL.
Step-by-step explanation:
The function you are referring to that ignores duplicates in a list and returns a single instance of each item is commonly known as a unique function in programming. Different programming languages have different implementations of this function. For instance, Python has a built-in function called set() which can be used to remove duplicates from a list. Similarly, in SQL, the keyword DISTINCT is used to return unique values in a given column.