utility
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Etymology
From Middle English utilite, from Old French utilite, utilitet (“usefulness”), from Latin ūtilitās, from uti (“to use”). By surface analysis, utile + -ity.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /juːˈtɪl.ɪ.ti/, /jəˈtɪl.ɪ.ti/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- (General American) IPA(key): /juˈtɪl.ə.ti/, [juˈtɪl.ə.ɾi]
- Rhymes: -ɪlɪti
Noun
utility (countable and uncountable, plural utilities)
- The state or condition of being useful; usefulness.
- 1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], “III”, in Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volumes (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC:
- "The profession has its utility, but I should be sorry to see any friend of mine belonging to it."
- Something that is useful.
- 1945 November and December, H. C. Casserley, “Random Reflections on British Locomotive Types—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 320:
- Undoubtedly it can be said that the humble 0-6-0 has been the backbone for general service, or general utility on British railways right from their earliest days, and is likely to remain so.
- (economics) The ability of a commodity to satisfy needs or wants; the satisfaction experienced by the consumer of that commodity.
- (philosophy) Well-being, satisfaction, pleasure, or happiness.
- (business) A commodity or service provided on a continuous basis by a physical infrastructure network, such as electricity, water supply or sewerage.
- Synonym: service
- (business, finance, by extension) A natural or legal monopoly distributer of such a utility; or, the securities of such a provider.
- (computing) A software program designed to perform a single task or a small range of tasks, often to help manage and tune computer hardware, an operating system or application software.
- Holonyms: app, application, program
- Coordinate terms: applet, worklet; trustlet
- I've bought a new disk utility that can recover deleted files.
- 1982, InfoWorld, volume 4, number 10, page 35:
- The system includes an 8080 and a Z80 assembler, a Tektronix format downloader and other utilities.
- (sports) The ability to play multiple positions.
- (Australia, New Zealand) A coupé utility, or ute; an automobile with an open tray or bed behind the passenger cabin.
- 1952, Nevil Shute, chapter 1, in The Far Country, Melbourne: Heinemann:
- Tim Archer got into the utility and drove[.] The car was a 1946 Chevrolet, somewhat battered by four years of station use, a sturdy practical vehicle with a coupé front seat and an open truck body behind.
Antonyms
Derived terms
- Asian utility vehicle
- beautility
- coupé utility
- law of diminishing marginal utility
- marginal utility
- multiutility
- public utility
- public utility bus
- public utility jeepney
- public utility van
- public utility vehicle
- sport utility vehicle
- transaction utility
- utilitarian
- utility ball
- utility bar
- utility belt
- utility bike
- utility calculus
- utility computing
- utility function
- utility furniture
- utility graph
- utility knife
- utility man
- utility model
- utility monster
- utility pigeon
- utility player
- utility pole
- utility program
- utility programme
- utility room
- utility sink
- utility trailer
Translations
state or condition of being useful
|
something that is useful
|
economics: ability of a commodity to satisfy needs or wants
|
business: service provided on a continuous basis by infrastructure
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business: areal monopoly provider
|
computing: software program with specific task
|
sports: ability to play multiple positions
|
Adjective
utility
- Having to do with, or owned by, a service provider.
- utility line; utility bill
- (Of a building or its components) containing or intended for any of a building’s often-utility-related commodity transport, such as pipes or wires, or converting equipment, such as furnaces, water tanks or heaters, circuit breakers, central air conditioning units, laundry facilities, etc.
- utility room; utility corridor
- Functional rather than attractive.
- 1943 March and April, “G.W.R. Rolling Stock Colours”, in Railway Magazine, page 106:
- "Chocolate and cream," the standard colours of G.W.R. rolling stock for 21 years, are now being replaced by an all-over utility coating of reddish-brown. This is the third time that a uniform brown has been adopted as the standard livery of G.W.R. carriages.
Synonyms
- (state of being useful): usefulness, value, advantages, benefit, return, merits, virtue, note
- See also Thesaurus:utility
References
- “utility”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Noun
utility m (plural utilitys)
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