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universal Definition

uni·ver·sal (yo̵̅o̅′nə vʉr′səl)

adjective

  1. of the universe; present or occurring everywhere or in all things
  2. of, for, affecting, or including all or the whole of something specified; not limited or restricted
  3. Obsolete being, or regarded as, a complete whole; entire; whole
  4. broad in knowledge, interests, ability, etc.
  5. that can be used for a great many or all kinds, forms, sizes, etc.; highly adaptable a universal voltage regulator
  6. used, intended to be used, or understood by all
  7. Logic not restricted or particular in application; predicating something of every member of a specified class

Etymology: ME universel < OFr < L universalis < universus: see universe

noun

  1. universal joint
  2. Logic
    1. a universal proposition
    2. predicable ()
    3. a general term or concept, or that which such a term or concept covers
  3. Philos. a metaphysical entity characterized by repeatability and unchanging nature through a series of changing relations, as substance

universal Related Forms
u′ni·ver′·sal·ness noun
universal Synonyms

universal

modif.

  1. Concerning the universe

    cosmic, stellar, celestial, empyrean, sidereal, astronomical, cosmogonal.

  2. Worldwide

    tellurian, mundane, earthly, terrestrial, sublunary, terrene, human, worldly.

    Antonyms local*, restricted*, district. *

  3. General

    general, entire, all-embracing, prevalent, customary, usual, whole, sweeping, extensive, comprehensive, total, unlimited, limitless, endless, vast, widespread, catholic, ecumenical, common, regular, generic, undisputed, accepted, unrestricted.

    Antonyms specialized*, limited*, peculiar.

universal implies applicability to every case or individual, without exception, in the class, category, etc. concerned a universal practice among primitive peoples; general implies applicability to all, nearly all, or most of a group or class a general election; generic implies applicability to every member of a class or, specif. in biology, of a genus a generic characteristic of Homo sapiens, aspirin has become a generic term for acetylsalicylic acid

universal Usage Examples

Preposition: in

  • sense: Universal services won't survive simply by the state or provider insisting that they remain universal in the sense of being free.
  • nature: Universal in nature, the Patio Heater Cover will fit every patio heater.

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • make: What makes philosophy universal is the fact that we have identical intellects which are the core of our personality.

Modifies a noun

  • suffrage: To equate his policies today, in a land with universal suffrage, is an insult to this man.
  • adherence: At the same time, we recognize that progress toward universal adherence is not likely in the foreseeable future.
  • acclaim: The 1967 Act did not meet with universal acclaim.
  • truth: There is a near universal truth to awards committees.
  • appeal: Books The Appeal of Harry Potter Why do the Harry Potter books have such universal appeal?
  • panacea: The meeting emphasized that any such campaign should not be seen as a universal panacea or the sole priority for local branches.

Modifying Another Word

  • almost: The almost universal use of white pottery ( thank goodness!
  • truly: Additionally, this site can be read in practically all languages making it a truly universal site.
  • nearly: How could such a hot button item go from raging controversy to nearly universal acceptance in such a short time?
  • practically: Now that telescope sights are practically universal on sporting rifles, the proper design of iron sights has become an abandoned topic.
  • virtually: In 1950/51, these practices were virtually universal, except for men whose jobs carried child allowance.
  • genuinely: Clearly her merits as a writer don't work for everyone - but how many writers could claim genuinely universal appeal?

Used with adjective complement

  • become: But over the last thirty years letterpress has disappeared and the muffled, blurred effect of pixellated images has become universal.
  • mean: Although the edge inscription is normal, it was by no means universal.
  • remain: Universal services won't survive simply by the state or provider insisting that they remain universal in the sense of being free.
  • make: In effect they are to be imposed, made universal.
  • provide: Accountability 5.7 Statutory bodies provide universal, equitable services for which they can be held democratically accountable.
universal Quotes

All nature is but art, unknown to thee; All chance, direction, which thou canst not see; All discord, harmony, not understood; All partial evil, universal good: And, spite of Pride, in erring Reason's spite, One truth is clear,'Whatever Is, is.'

—Pope, Alexander

But we grow old, Ah! when shall all men's good Be each man's rule, and universal peace Lie like a shaft of light across the land, And like a lane of beams athwart the sea, Through all the circle of the golden year.

—Tennyson

   Only two classes of books are of universal appeal. The very best and the very worst.

—Ford, Ford Madox originally Ford Hermann Hueffer

'He never listens' is universal in the institution of marriage.

—Mackaye, Dorothy Disney

There is only one bright spot and that is the growing habit of disgruntled men of dynamiting factories and power stations. I hope that, encouraged now as patriotism, it may remain a habit! But it won't do any good, if it is not universal.

—Tolkien,J(ohn) R(onald) R(euel)

Thankstohis bodily formand thankstohismind, [man] is a universal machine, capable of an infinite diversity of movement.

—Redtenbacher, Ferdinand

Ich solle niemals anders verfahren, als so, dass ich auch wollen k o« nne, meine Maxime solle ein allgemeines Gesetz werden. I ought never to act except in such a way that I can also will that my maxim should become a universal law.

—Kant, Immanuel

   Photography was conceived as a mirror of the universal elements and emotions ofthe everydayness of lifeöas a mirror of the essential oneness of mankind throughout the world.

—Steichen, Edward Jean

He must teach himself that the basest of all things isto be afraid and, teaching himself that, forget it forever, leaving no room in his workshop foranything but the old verities and truths of the heart, the old universal truths lacking which any story is ephemeral and doomedölove and honour and pityand compassion and sacrifice.

—Faulkner,William Harrison

It is not usually possible in a poem or a story to make the relationship between particular and universal fully explicit. Those who try to do so end up writing parables.

—Berger,John Peter

I write poems, have always written them, to transcend the painfully personal and reach the universal.

—Sarton, May

As an old soldier I admit the cowardice: it's as universal as sea sickness, and matters just as little.

—Shaw, George Bernard

Lo! thy dread empire,Chaos! is restored; Light dies before thy uncreating word: Thy hand, great Anarch! lets the curtain fall; And universal darkness buries all.

—Pope, Alexander

I had rather believe all the fables in the legend, and the Talmud, and the Alcoran, than that this universal frame is without a mind.

—Bacon, Francis,Viscount St Albans

There are three universal languages: love, music and sports.

—Moses, Ed

Current nationalism is merely the affirmation of the right of colonial elites to repeat historyand follow the road travelled by the rich toward the universal consumption of internationally marketed packages, a road which can ultimately lead only to universal pollution and universal frustration.

—Illich, Ivan

We are all ill: but even a universal sickness implies an idea of health.

—Trillin, Calvin Marshall

All governments use force and all assert that they are founded on reason. In fact, whether universal suffrage prevails or not, it is always an oligarchy that governs, finding ways to give to'the will of the people'the expression which the few desire.

—Pareto,Vilfredo

   You define your own horror journey, according to your taste. My definition of what makes a journey wholly or partially horrible is boredom. Add discomfort, fatigue, strain in large amounts to get the purest-quality horror, but the kernel is boredom. I offer that as a universal test of travel; boredom, called byanyother name, iswhy you yearn for the first available transport out.But what bores whom?† The threshold of boredom must be like the threshold of pain, different in all of us.

—Gellhorn, Martha Ellis

Today I see more clearly than yesterday that back of the problem of race and color, lies a greater problem which both obscures and implements it: and that isthefact that so many civilized persons are willing to live in comfort even if the price of this is poverty, ignorance and disease of the majority of their fellowmen; that to maintain this privilege men have waged war until today war tends to become universal and continuous, and the excuse for this war continues largely to be color and race.

—Du Bois,W(illiam) E(dward) B(urghardt)