utility : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: utility	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for utility
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
utility adj used of beef; usable but inferior [syn: utility(a), utility-grade] capable of substituting in any of several positions on a team; "a utility infielder" Synonym(s): utility(a), substitute(a) n a company that performs a public service; subject to government regulation Synonym(s): utility, public utility, public utility company, public-service corporation the quality of being of practical use Synonym(s): utility, usefulness Antonym(s): inutility, unusefulness, uselessness 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" (economics) a measure that is to be maximized in any situation involving choice (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" Synonym(s): utility program, utility, service program 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"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Utility \Util"ity\, 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.