utility

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word utility. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word utility, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say utility in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word utility you have here. The definition of the word utility will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofutility, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English utilite, from Old French utilite, utilitet (“usefulness”), from Latin ūtilitās, from uti (“to use”). By surface analysis, utile +‎ -ity.

Pronunciation

Noun

utility (countable and uncountable, plural utilities)

  1. 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."
  2. 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.
  3. (economics) The ability of a commodity to satisfy needs or wants; the satisfaction experienced by the consumer of that commodity.
  4. (philosophy) Well-being, satisfaction, pleasure, or happiness.
  5. (business) A commodity or service provided on a continuous basis by a physical infrastructure network, such as electricity, water supply or sewerage.
    Synonym: service
  6. (business, finance, by extension) A natural or legal monopoly distributer of such a utility; or, the securities of such a provider.
  7. (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.
    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.
  8. (sports) The ability to play multiple positions.

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

utility

  1. Having to do with, or owned by, a service provider.
    utility line; utility bill
  2. (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
  3. 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

References

Spanish

Noun

utility m (plural utilitys)

  1. (sports) utility
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia