utility
- the state or quality of being useful; usefulness: This chemical has no utility as an agricultural fertilizer.
- something useful; a useful thing.
- a public service, as a telephone or electric-light system, a streetcar or railroad line, or the like.Compare public utility(def 1).
- Often utilities. a useful or advantageous factor or feature: the relative utilities of a religious or a secular education.
- Economics. the capacity of a commodity or a service to satisfy some human want.
- the principle and end of utilitarian ethics; well-being or happiness; that which is conducive to the happiness and well-being of the greatest number.
- Computers. utility program.
- utilities, stocks or bonds of public utilities.
- a grade of beef immediately below commercial.
- (of domestic animals) raised or kept as a potentially profitable product rather than for show or as pets: utility breeds; utility livestock.
- having or made for a number of useful or practical purposes rather than a single, specialized one: a utility knife.
- designed chiefly for use or service rather than beauty, high quality, or the like: a utility vehicle; utility furniture.
Origin of utility
Related Words for utility
service, point, expediency, usefulness, applicability, use, advantage, profit, benefit, adequacy, avail, favor, relevance, function, efficacy, productiveness, efficiency, account, practicality, convenienceExamples from the Web for utility
Contemporary Examples of utility
In essence, he “invented” the idea of a utility company, which would power the light bulbs and other devices people might plug in.
According to the courts, the Internet is not considered a utility and therefore not subject to such regulations.
Porn Fights For Your Right to Surf: Pornhub, YouPorn, and Redtube Lead Charge For Net NeutralityAurora Snow
September 13, 2014
In 2010, in what it says was the first such effort by a U.S. utility, APS placed panels on 125 homes in Flagstaff—for no charge.
Much like Cosmo itself, the slideshow is pretty to look at but lacking in substance and utility.
So, the pair set about tapping into that world to find partners who might appreciate the utility of a dead, frozen kitten.
Brooklyn’s Museum of Death: Inside Morbid Anatomy’s House of Intriguing HorrorsNina Strochlic
July 10, 2014
Historical Examples of utility
After all their piety was aimless and of no utility to humanity.
Camps, Quarters and Casual PlacesArchibald Forbes
This was the fashion of the day, though its utility, on the whole, may very well be questioned.
Ned MyersJames Fenimore Cooper
There is no doubt, replied Altamont, of its utility; but how would you contrive to make it?
The Field of IceJules Verne
I do not ask for proofs of genius, I ask for solid proofs of utility.
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
These powerful objections were only met with excuses of convenience and utility.
Roman Catholicism in SpainAnonymous
utility
- the quality of practical use; usefulness; serviceability
- (as modifier)a utility fabric
- something useful
- a public service, such as the bus system; public utility
- (as modifier)utility vehicle
- economics
- the ability of a commodity to satisfy human wants
- the amount of such satisfactionSee disutility
- statistics
- a measure of the total benefit or disadvantage attaching to each of a set of alternative courses of action
- (as modifier)utility function See also expected utility, decision theory
- Also called: utility truck, (informal) ute Australian and NZ a small truck with an open body and low sides, often with a removable tarpaulin cover; pick-up
- a piece of computer software designed for a routine task, such as examining or copying files
Word Origin for utility
Word Origin and History for utility
late 14c., "fact of being useful," from Old French utilite "usefulness" (late 13c.), earlier utilitet (12c.), from Latin utilitatem (nominative utilitas) "usefulness, serviceableness, profit," from utilis "usable," from uti (see use (v.)). As a shortened form of public utility it is recorded from 1930.