universal

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˌjuː.nɪˈvɜː.səl/, US /ˌjuː.nəˈvɝː.səl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English universel, universal, borrowed from Old French universel and directly from Latin ūniversālis (“of or belonging to all”),^[2][3] from ūniversus “all together, whole, entire”,^[2][3] the source of universe, and the suffix -al.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Extending over or including the whole of something: about 1374 in the OED, about 1380 in Barnhart, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

Of or relating to the universe or all things in it is from 1390.^[5][6] In the 15th century it described the Catholic Church as a whole,^[6] and in the 16th century a person of wide learning.^[6] As a noun in logic and philosophy, an abstraction from particulars, it is from the late 14th century in Etymonline,^[2] and a universal proposition from 1553 in Barnhart.^[3] The universal joint in mechanics is from the 1670s,^[2] and the universal product code from 1974.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1374 – including the whole.^[5]
• 1390 – of the universe.^[5]
• 1553 – noun, a universal proposition.^[3]
• 1670s – universal joint.^[2]
• 1974 – universal product code.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Affecting or including everyone or everything in the world or a group.
2. True or suitable in all cases.
3. Relating to the whole universe.

Noun

1. (philosophy) A general concept or term, or a universal proposition.
2. A feature or pattern of behaviour common to all members of a group or culture.

Word family

• universally
• universalness
• subuniversal
• superuniversal
• universalism
• universalist
• universalistic
• universalize

Related words

• universe
• university
• universality
• one

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press