universe

American  

[yoo-nuh-vurs] / ˈju nəˌvɜrs /

noun

• universes
  plural

1. the universe. the totality of known or supposed objects and phenomena throughout space; the cosmos; macrocosm.

2. the whole world, especially with reference to humanity.

   a truth known throughout the universe.

3. a world or sphere in which something exists or prevails.

   his private universe.

4. in New Age philosophy and popular culture, a divine but nonpersonal being, consciousness, or field of energy believed to connect everything that is, allowing the interaction of the physical with the spiritual and thought with reality.

5. Also called universe of discourse.  Logic. the aggregate of all the objects, attributes, and relations assumed or implied in a given discussion.

6. Also called universal set.  Mathematics. the set of all elements under discussion for a given problem.

7. Statistics. the entire population under study.

---

universe British  

/ ˈjuːnɪˌvɜːs /

noun

1. astronomy the aggregate of all existing matter, energy, and space

2. human beings collectively

3. a province or sphere of thought or activity

4. statistics another word for population

---

universe Scientific  

/ yo̅o̅′nə-vûrs′ /

1. The totality of matter, energy, and space, including the Solar System, the galaxies, and the contents of the space between the galaxies. Current theories of cosmology suggest that the universe is constantly expanding.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subuniverse
  noun
• superuniverse
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• universes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of universe

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Old French univers, from Latin ūniversum, noun use of neuter of ūniversus “all, entire,” literally, “turned into one,” from ūni- uni- + versus “turned” (past participle of vertere “to turn”)

Explanation

Universe is a big word — in fact, it includes all matter and all of space. We can't see or know much about the outer limits of the universe, but we know that it has them, and the idea of matter contained within boundaries gives us other meanings for the word. You might refer to a "universe of ideas," or when conducting a scientific study, create "a universe of data." Universe can also mean a defined set of something — the five blocks between the playground and home can be the whole universe for a small child.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

universe universes

Large crowds at viewing sites across the UK and Europe reacted with gasps and cheers, with astronomy enthusiasts saying it served as a reminder of how "amazing" the universe is.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

"When we see something very red in the universe, we often assume that it is surrounded by dust, like soot or ash," said Robert Simcoe, a study co-author from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

It completely opened a whole other universe for me in terms of character work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

Primordial black holes could travel through stars as they move across the universe.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026

The one who told the Chumley kids that they weren’t the center of this or any other known universe.

From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein

For Gallo and his team of Aditya Aney, Tao Pan and William Koor, “both the AI and private credit universes face significant volatility.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Surely literature is a path to discovering other sensibilities, other universes; “Reading Lolita in Tehran,” by contrast, is about people essentially saying, “This book is meaningful because it reminds me of my life.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

But near black holes, or in expanding and collapsing universes, both directions must be included for a consistent quantum description.

From Science Daily ● May 22, 2026

If a vacation or road trip isn’t in the cards this summer, you can still be transported to far-away places and alternate universes, like in ‘Spider-Noir,’ ‘Little House on the Prairie’ and ‘Lanterns.’

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026

Unlike the Western universe, the Hindu cosmos was infinite in extent; beyond our own universe were innumerable other universes.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife