Etymologically
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universal

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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

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