u·til·i·ty

(yo͞o-tĭl′ĭ-tē)

n. pl. u·til·i·ties

1. The quality or condition of being useful; usefulness: "I have always doubted the utility of these conferences on disarmament" (Winston S. Churchill).

2. A useful article or device.

a. A public utility.

b. A commodity or service, such as electricity, water, or public transportation, that is provided by a public utility.

4. Computers A utility program.

5. Economics The benefit that a chosen course of action affords, as subjectively judged by the chooser.

adj.

1. Used, serving, or working in several capacities as needed, especially:

a. Prepared to play any of the smaller theatrical roles on short notice: a utility cast member.

b. Capable of playing as a substitute in any of several positions: a utility infielder.

2. Designed for various often heavy-duty practical uses: a utility knife; a utility vehicle.

3. Raised or kept for the production of a farm product rather than for show or as pets: utility livestock.

4. Of the lowest US Government grade: utility beef.

[Middle English utilite, from Old French, from Latin ūtilitās, from ūtilis, useful, from ūtī, to use.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

utility

(juːˈtɪlɪtɪ)

n, pl -ties

a. the quality of practical use; usefulness; serviceability

b. (as modifier): a utility fabric.

2. something useful

3. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy)

a. a public service, such as the bus system; public utility

b. (as modifier): utility vehicle.

4. (Economics) economics

a. the ability of a commodity to satisfy human wants

b. the amount of such satisfaction. See disutility

5. (Statistics) statistics

a. a measure of the total benefit or disadvantage attaching to each of a set of alternative courses of action

b. (as modifier): utility function. See also expected utility, decision theory

6. (Automotive Engineering) Also called: utility truck or ute (informal)Austral and NZ a small truck with an open body and low sides, often with a removable tarpaulin cover; pick-up

7. (Computer Science) a piece of computer software designed for a routine task, such as examining or copying files

[C14: from Old French utelite, from Latin ūtilitās usefulness, from ūtī to use]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

u•til•i•ty

(yuˈtɪl ɪ ti)

n., pl. -ties,
adj. n.

1. the state or quality of being useful; usefulness.

2. something useful; a useful thing.

3. a public service, as the providing of electricity, gas, water, a telephone system, or bus and railroad lines.

4. public utility.

5. Often, utilities. a useful or advantageous factor or feature.

6. the capacity of a commodity or a service to satisfy some human want.

7. utility program.

8. utilities, stocks or bonds of public utilities.

adj.

9. (of domestic animals) raised or kept as potentially profitable products rather than for show or as pets.

10. designed for a number of practical purposes rather than a single, specialized one: a utility knife.

11. capable of serving in any of various capacities: a utility player on a baseball team.

12. designed chiefly for use or service rather than beauty, high quality, etc.: utility furniture.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Old French < Latin ūtil(is) useful]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	utility - a company that performs a public service; subject to government regulation public utility, public utility company, public-service corporation service - a company or agency that performs a public service; subject to government regulation phone company, phone service, telco, telephone company, telephone service - a public utility that provides telephone service electric company, light company, power company, power service - a public utility that provides electricity water company, waterworks - a public utility that provides water gas company, gas service - a public utility that provides gas bus company, bus service - a public utility providing local transportation
	2.	utility - the quality of being of practical use usefulness quality - an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone; "the quality of mercy is not strained"--Shakespeare detergence, detergency - detergent quality; the quality of having cleansing power function, purpose, use, role - what something is used for; "the function of an auger is to bore holes"; "ballet is beautiful but what use is it?" helpfulness - the property of providing useful assistance use - a particular service; "he put his knowledge to good use"; "patrons have their uses" serviceability, serviceableness, usability, usableness, useableness - the quality of being able to provide good service instrumentality - the quality of being instrumental for some purpose practicality - concerned with actual use rather than theoretical possibilities practicability, practicableness - the quality of being usable inutility, unusefulness, uselessness - the quality of having no practical use
	3.	utility - 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" service - work done by one person or group that benefits another; "budget separately for goods and services"
	4.	utility - (economics) a measure that is to be maximized in any situation involving choice economic science, economics, political economy - the branch of social science that deals with the production and distribution and consumption of goods and services and their management system of measurement, metric - a system of related measures that facilitates the quantification of some particular characteristic marginal utility - (economics) the amount that utility increases with an increase of one unit of an economic good or service
	5.	utility - (computer science) a program designed for general support of the processes of a computer; "a computer system provides utility programs to perform the tasks needed by most users" service program, utility program computer science, computing - the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures computer program, computer programme, programme, program - (computer science) a sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute; "the program required several hundred lines of code" device driver, driver - (computer science) a program that determines how a computer will communicate with a peripheral device diagnostic program - a program that recognizes and explains faults in the equipment or mistakes in a computer program input program - a utility program that organizes the input to a computer output program - a utility program that organizes the output of a computer sort program, sorting program - a utility program that sorts data items trace program - a utility program that exhibits the sequence and results of executing the instructions in another program service routine, utility routine - a routine that can be used as needed
	6.	utility - 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" electrical plant, electrical system - utility that provides electricity facility, installation - a building or place that provides a particular service or is used for a particular industry; "the assembly plant is an enormous facility" heating plant, heating system, heating, heat - utility to warm a building; "the heating system wasn't working"; "they have radiant heating" plumbing, plumbing system - utility consisting of the pipes and fixtures for the distribution of water or gas in a building and for the disposal of sewage
Adj.	1.	utility - used of beef; usable but inferior utility-grade inferior - of low or inferior quality
	2.	utility - capable of substituting in any of several positions on a team; "a utility infielder" substitute secondary - being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate; "the stone will be hauled to a secondary crusher"; "a secondary source"; "a secondary issue"; "secondary streams"

utility

noun usefulness, use, point, benefit, service, profit, fitness, convenience, mileage (informal), avail, practicality, efficacy, advantageousness, serviceableness He inwardly questioned the utility of his work.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

utility

noun

The quality of being suitable or adaptable to an end:

account, advantage, avail, benefit, profit, use, usefulness.

Translations

مَصْلَحَة خِدْمَة عامَّهمَنْفَعَه، فائِدَه

užitečnostužitekslužby

anvendelighedydelse

Nutzen Nützlichkeit öffentlicher Versorgungsbetrieb

utilidad conveniencia servicio público

kasulikkus

hyödykehyödyllisyyspalvelu

utilitaire utilité service public

közmû

almenningsòjónustufyrirtækigagnsemi, nytsemi

attrezzo fornitore funzionale servizi pubblici servizio

komunalinė paslaugautilitarinis

derīgumspielietojums

bruikbaarheid handigheidhandigshulpmiddelhulpprogramma

elektrisitetsverk vann- og kloakkverk

úžitokverejné služby

faydakamu hizmetiyarar

公用事业效用

utility

[juːˈtɪlɪtɪ]

A. N

1. (= usefulness) → utilidad f

2. (also public utility) → servicio m público

B. CPD → utilitario
utility player N (Sport) → jugador(a) m/f polivalente
utility room N → lavadero m
utility vehicle N → furgoneta f, camioneta f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

utility

[juːˈtɪləti] n

(= usefulness) → utilité f

(also public utility) → service m publicutility room n → buanderie futility vehicle n → véhicule m utilitaire

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

utility

(= usefulness) → Nützlichkeit f, → Nutzen m

public utility (= company) → Versorgungsbetrieb m; (= service) → Leistung f → der Versorgungsbetriebe; the utilities → versorgungswirtschaftliche Einrichtungen pl

(Comput) → Utility nt, → Hilfs- or Dienstprogramm nt

(Austral: = utility vehicle) → Kleintransporter m

attr utility industry → Versorgungsindustrie f; utility goods → Gebrauchsgüter pl; utility furniture im 2. Weltkrieg in Großbritannien hergestellte Möbel, die einfach, aber zweckmäßig waren

utility

utility box

n (for nails, screws etc) → Kleinteilemagazin nt

utility company

n → Versorgungsbetrieb m

utility man

n (US) → Mädchen nt → für alles (inf)

utility player

n (Sport) → Spieler, der/Spielerin, die auf mehreren Positionen spielen kann

utility program

n (Comput) → Hilfsprogramm nt, → Dienstprogramm nt

utility room

n → Allzweckraum m

utility software

n (Comput) → Hilfssoftware f, → Utility-Software f

utility vehicle

n → Kleintransporter nt, → kleiner Lieferwagen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

utility

[juːˈtɪlɪtɪ] n (usefulness) → utilità (also public utility) → servizio pubblico

utility

(juˈtiləti) – plural uˈtilities – noun

1. usefulness. Some kitchen gadgets have only a limited utility.

2. a useful public service, eg the supply of water, gas, electricity etc.

uˌtiliˈtarian adjective

useful rather than ornamental. Our plates and glasses are utilitarian rather than beautiful.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

There's your law of precedents; there's your utility of traditions; there's the story of your obstinate survival of old beliefs never bottomed on the earth, and now not even hovering in the air!

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THE UTILITY OF THE UNION TO YOUR POLITICAL PROSPERITY THE INSUFFICIENCY OF THE PRESENT CONFEDERATION TO PRESERVE THAT UNION THE NECESSITY OF A GOVERNMENT AT LEAST EQUALLY ENERGETIC WITH THE ONE PROPOSED, TO THE ATTAINMENT OF THIS OBJECT THE CONFORMITY OF THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION TO THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT ITS ANALOGY TO YOUR OWN STATE CONSTITUTION and lastly, THE ADDITIONAL SECURITY WHICH ITS ADOPTION WILL AFFORD TO THE PRESERVATION OF THAT SPECIES OF GOVERNMENT, TO LIBERTY, AND TO PROPERTY.

It may perhaps be thought superfluous to offer arguments to prove the utility of the UNION, a point, no doubt, deeply engraved on the hearts of the great body of the people in every State, and one, which it may be imagined, has no adversaries.

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For which reason a mutual utility and friendship may subsist between the master and the slave, I mean when they are placed by nature in that relation to each other, for the contrary takes place amongst those who are reduced to slavery by the law, or by conquest.

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Here, then, is one difficulty in our law about women, which we may say that we have now escaped; the wave has not swallowed us up alive for enacting that the guardians of either sex should have all their pursuits in common; to the utility and also to the possibility of this arrangement the consistency of the argument with itself bears witness.

Yes, he said, that is a much greater wave than the other; and the possibility as well as the utility of such a law are far more questionable.

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"To proceed: ceteris paribus, be who pleases is of more importance to his fellow-men than he who instructs, since utility is happiness, and pleasure is the end already obtained which instruction is merely the means of obtaining.

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A man is born to serve his time on this earth, and there is something fine in the service being given on other grounds than that of utility. The bondage of art is very exacting.

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To be plain, I much question whether the politician, who hath generally a good nose, hath not scented out somewhat of the utility of this practice.

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Roman and Norman were both wise in their retention of places of approved strength or utility. So it was that these surrounding heights, already established and to a certain extent proved, were retained.

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His unexpected accession to title and fortune had removed all his difficulties; and never had the general loved his daughter so well in all her hours of companionship, utility, and patient endurance as when he first hailed her "Your Ladyship!" Her husband was really deserving of her; independent of his peerage, his wealth, and his attachment, being to a precision the most charming young man in the world.

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To Sergey Ivanovitch the country meant on one hand rest from work, on the other a valuable antidote to the corrupt influences of town, which he took with satisfaction and a sense of its utility. To Konstantin Levin the country was good first because it afforded a field for labor, of the usefulness of which there could be no doubt.

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