UTILITY

utility, utility-grade

(adjective) used of beef; usable but inferior

utility

(noun) the service (electric power or water or transportation) provided by a public utility; “the cost of utilities never decreases”; “all the utilities were lost after the hurricane”

utility

(noun) a facility composed of one or more pieces of equipment connected to or part of a structure and designed to provide a service such as heat or electricity or water or sewage disposal; “the price of the house included all utilities”

utility, usefulness

(noun) the quality of being of practical use

utility, public utility, public utility company, public-service corporation

(noun) a company that performs a public service; subject to government regulation

utility

(noun) (economics) a measure that is to be maximized in any situation involving choice

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

utility (countable and uncountable, plural utilities)

The state or condition of being useful; usefulness.

Something that is useful.

(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, finance) A service provider, such as an electric company or water company; 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.

(sports) The ability to play multiple positions.

Antonyms

• disutility

• inutility

Adjective

utility

Having to do with, or owned by, a service provider.

Designating of a room in a house or building where mechanical equipment is installed; such as a furnace, water tank/heater, circuit breaker, and/or air conditioning unit; and often equipped with hookups for laundry equipment (washer/dryer).

Synonyms

• (state of being useful): usefulness, note

• See also utility

Source: Wiktionary

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U*til"i*ty, n. Etym: [OE. utilite, F. utilité, L. utilitas, fr. utilis useful. See Utile.]

1. The quality or state of being useful; usefulness; production of good; profitableness to some valuable end; as, the utility of manure upon land; the utility of the sciences; the utility of medicines. The utility of the enterprises was, however, so great and obvious that all opposition proved useless. Macaulay.

2. (Polit. Econ.)

Definition: Adaptation to satisfy the desires or wants; intrinsic value. See Note under Value, 2. Value in use is utility, and nothing else, and in political economy should be called by that name and no other. F. A. Walker.

3. Happiness; the greatest good, or happiness, of the greatest number, -- the foundation of utilitarianism. J. S. Mill.

Syn.

– Usefulness; advantageous; benefit; profit; avail; service.

– Utility, Usefulness. Usefulness has an Anglo-Saxon prefix, utility is Latin; and hence the former is used chiefly of things in the concrete, while the latter is employed more in a general and abstract sense. Thus, we speak of the utility of an invention, and the usefulness of the thing invented; of the utility of an institution, and the usefulness of an individual. So beauty and utility (not usefulness) are brought into comparison. Still, the words are often used interchangeably.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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