universal

Of or pertaining to the universe.

Adjective

  1. Of or pertaining to the universe.
  2. Common to all members of a group or class.
    • In Logic, the letter A is used as a symbol for the universal affirmative proposition in the general form "all x is y." - 1911, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica:
    • I had been planning every day through these years toward a universal car. - 1922, Henry Ford, Samuel Crowther, chapter 4, in My Life and Work, Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., →OCLC:
    • Eventually, the railway opened on Monday, December 14, 1896, with a universal fare of 1d. collected at the turnstiles, and conditions were immediately chaotic, as many passengers travelled round and round, and refused...
  3. Common to all society; worldwide.
    • She achieved universal fame.
    • [John] Dryden's univerſal genius, his firmly eſtablished reputation, and the glory his memory muſt always reflect upon the nation that gave him birth, make us ardently wiſh for a more accurate life of him than any which...
  4. Unlimited; vast; infinite.
    • Playwrights have recognized the usefulness of this archetype and used him in many dramatic contexts, for the Trickster's freedom from determination gives him a universal fascination. - 1983, Wendy Griswold, “The Devil's...
  5. Useful for many purposes; all-purpose.
    • universal wrench

Origin

From Middle English universal, from Old French universal (modern French universel), from Latin ūniversālis, equivalent to universe + -al.

Forms

more universal most universal

Synonyms

general general-purpose multi-purpose

Antonyms

nonuniversal

Related

universe university universality general global

Derived

abstract universal inter-universal Teichmüller theory last universal ancestor last universal common ancestor Saybolt universal second universal algebra universal arithmetic universal bank universal banking universal basic income universal chuck universal credit universal design universal design for instruction universal donor universal grammar universal grinder universal instrument universalise universalize universal joint universal jurisdiction universal language universal lever

Noun

  1. A characteristic or property that particular things have in common.
    • When we examine common words, we find that, broadly speaking, proper names stand for particulars, while other substantives, adjectives, prepositions, and verbs stand for universals. - 1912, Bertrand Russel, The Problems...
    • We might also distinguish those expressions which are used to refer to individuals or particulars from those which are used to refer to what philosophers have called universals: e.g., to distinguish such expressions as...
    • Empiricism was similarly a response to this loss of universals—a radically contingent world with no underlying order must constantly be studied and tested—and made God himself unnecessary: divine spirit and human spirit...

Forms

universals