utility

English Online Dictionary. What means utility‎? What does utility mean?

English

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/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /juˈtɪl.ə.ti/, [juˈtɪl.ə.ɾi]
• Rhymes: -ɪlɪti

Noun

utility (countable and uncountable, plural utilities)

1. The state or condition of being useful; usefulness.
2. Something that is useful.
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 other than a game; one that is useful or creative rather than merely entertaining.

9. (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
10. (sports) The ability to play multiple positions.
11. (Australia, New Zealand) A coupé utility, or ute; an automobile with an open tray or bed behind the passenger cabin.

Antonyms

• disutility
• inutility

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.

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.

Spanish

Noun

utility m (plural utilitys)

1. (sports) utility