English Dictionary: utility(a) | by the DICT Development Group |
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Utilitarian \U*til`i*ta"ri*an\, a. [See {Utility}.] 1. Of or pertaining to utility; consisting in utility; [?]iming at utility as distinguished from beauty, ornament, etc.; sometimes, reproachfully, evincing, or characterized by, a regard for utility of a lower kind, or marked by a sordid spirit; as, utilitarian narrowness; a utilitarian indifference to art. 2. Of or pertaining to utilitarianism; supporting utilitarianism; as, the utilitarian view of morality; the Utilitarian Society. --J. S. Mill. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Utilitarian \U*til`i*ta"ri*an\, n. One who holds the doctrine of utilitarianism. The utilitarians are for merging all the particular virtues into one, and would substitute in their place the greatest usefulness, as the alone principle to which every question respecting the morality of actions should be referred. --Chalmers. But what is a utilitarian? Simply one who prefers the useful to the useless; and who does not? --Sir W. Hamilton. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Utilitarianism \U*til`i*ta"ri*an*ism\, n. 1. The doctrine that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the end and aim of all social and political institutions. --Bentham. 2. The doctrine that virtue is founded in utility, or that virtue is defined and enforced by its tendency to promote the highest happiness of the universe. --J. S. Mill. 3. The doctrine that utility is the sole standard of morality, so that the rectitude of an action is determined by its usefulness. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Utility \U*til"i*ty\, n. [OE. utilite, F. utilit[82], 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.) 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. Usage: {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. | |
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (15Feb98) [foldoc]: | |
utility-coder generation. ["User's Manual for utility-coder", Cambridge Computer Association, Jul 1977]. (1997-12-09) |