useful

Etymology

It is formed from English use + -ful.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The noun use is from Old French us (“custom, practice”),^[3][7] from Latin ūsus (“use, custom, practice, skill”),^[3][7] from the past-participle stem of ūtor (“to make use of, profit by, enjoy”),^[3][7] a word of uncertain origin.^[3] The OED notes that earlier currency may be implied by a quotation of 1483 at usefulness.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of things or actions, capable of being put to good use; advantageous or beneficial: 1596, in L. Keymis's account of the second voyage to Guiana, printed in R. Hakluyt's collection.^[2][4] Etymonline gives the 1590s and Dictionary.com 1585–95.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The word was first applied to things and practices; from 1612 it also described people able to bring about some good or advantage.^[2] Johnson (1755) gave it as convenient, profitable to any end, or helpful to any purpose.^[8] Later uses narrow this general praise to mean "competent, effective": of an actor, especially one able to play a range of minor roles, from 1740 in Colley Cibber,^[2] and of a sportsman or racehorse from 1874,^[2] which the Shorter Oxford and Collins treat as a colloquial sense, reasonably effective or commendable.^[5][9] A woman's dress called useful was from 1879 plain, practical and versatile.^[2] In Australia generally useful described an odd-job worker from 1866,^[2] and the noun useful for such a worker is recorded from 1885 in Green's Dictionary of Slang, as a helper at a public house;^[10] the OED's first record is from 1891.^[2] The noun also appeared early, as "the useful" from 1635 and, in the plural, for useful articles from 1649.^[2]

Timeline

• 1596 – of things, capable of being put to good use.^[2][4]
• 1612 – of people, able to bring about good or advantage.^[2]
• 1635 – noun, with the, that which is useful.^[2]
• 1649 – plural noun, useful articles.^[2]
• 1660 – to make oneself useful, to do something of value to others.^[2]
• 1740 – of an actor, competent in a range of minor roles.^[2]
• 1866 – in Australia, of an odd-job worker, with generally.^[2]
• 1874 – of a sportsman or racehorse, effective, good.^[2]
• 1879 – of a woman's dress, plain and versatile.^[2]
• 1885 – noun, in Australia, a general helper, especially at a public house.^[10] The OED's first record is from 1891.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Capable of being put to good use; helpful, beneficial or serviceable: This old map turned out to be surprisingly useful.^[9][4][2]
2. Of a person, able to help or bring some advantage: She is a useful person to have on a camping trip.^[2][5]
3. (informal) commendable or capable; reasonably good or effective: a useful striker.^[9][5][2]
4. (theatre) Of an actor, competent, especially in a range of minor roles.^[2]
5. to make oneself useful: to do something helpful.^[2][5]

Noun

1. (Australia, informal) An odd-job worker, a general factotum.^[9][2][10]
2. Useful articles or things, in the plural.^[2]

Word family

• usefully
• usefulness
• unuseful

Related words

• use
• useless

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com