universal

English

Etymology

Latin universum (“universe”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)səl

Adjective

universal (comparative more universal, superlative most universal)

1. Of or pertaining to the universe.
2. Common to all members of a group or class.
   • 1922, Henry Ford, My Life and Work:

     I had been planning every day through these years toward a universal car.

   • 1911, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica:

     In Logic, the letter A is used as a symbol for the universal affirmative proposition in the general form "all x is y."

3. Common to all society; world-wide

   She achieved universal fame.

4. Cosmic; unlimited; vast; infinite
5. Useful for many purposes, e.g., universal wrench.

Derived terms

• universalise, universalize
• universal quantifier

Related terms

• universe
• university

Translations

of or pertaining to the universe

Galician: universal (gl) Greek: παγκόσμιος (el) (pagkósmios)

Persian: جهانی‌ (fa) Russian: вселенский (ru) (vselénskij), космический (ru) (kosmíčeskij)

common to all members of a group or class

French: universel (fr) Greek: παγκόσμιος (el) (pagkósmios)

Irish: comhchoiteann (ga) Russian: всеобщий (ru) (vseóbščij)

common to all society, world-wide

French: universel (fr) Galician: universal (gl) Greek: παγκόσμιος (el) (pagkósmios) Haitian Creole: inivèsèl Irish: uilechoiteann (ga)

Russian: всеобщий (ru) (vseóbščij), глобальный (ru) (globál'nyj), всесторонний (ru) (vsestorónij), всемирный (ru) (vsemírnyj), общечеловеческий (ru) (obščečelovéčeskij) Turkish: evrensel (tr)

cosmic, unlimited

Russian: вселенский (ru) (vselénskij), космический (ru) (kosmíčeskij)

useful for many purposes

Czech: všestranný (cs) m., univerzální (cs) m. Greek: παγκόσμιος (el) (pagkósmios) Polish: uniwersalny (pl) Russian: универсальный (ru) (universál'nyj), всесторонний (ru) (vsestorónij)

Spanish: universal (es) Turkish: evrensel (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: عالمي (ʕá:lami) Chinese: 普遍 (pǔbiàn); 全世界的 (quánshìjiè-de) Dutch: universeel Esperanto: universala (eo) Finnish: yleis- (fi), yleismaailmallinen (fi), yleispätevä (fi) French: universel (fr) m., universelle (fr) f. German: allgemein, Universal-, universell Hungarian: egyetemes

Ido: universala (io) Italian: universale (it) m. and f. Japanese: 全世界の (ぜんせかいの, zensekai no) Korean: 우주의 (uju-ui), 전세계의 (jeonsegye-ui) Latin: universalis Polish: uniwersalny Portuguese: universal (pt) m. and f. Russian: всеобщий (vseóbščij), универсальный (universál’nyj) Spanish: universal (es) m. and f. Swedish: universell (sv) (2), universal- (sv) (3)

See also

• Universal on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• general
• global

External links

• universal in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• universal in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Noun

universal (plural universals)

1. (philosophy) A characteristic or property that particular things have in common.
   • 1912, Bertrand Russel, The Problems of Philosophy, Chapter 9:

     When we examine common words, we find that, broadly speaking, proper names stand for particulars, while other substantives, adjectives, prepositions, and verbs stand for universals.

   • 1970, John R. Searle, Speech acts^[1]:

     We might also distinguish those expressions which are used to refer to individuals or particulars from those which are used to refer to what philosophers have called universals: e.g., to distinguish such expressions as "Everest" and "this chair" from "the number three", "the color red" and "drunkenness".

See also

• particular

External links

• S:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Universals
• The Medieval Problem of Universals - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

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Galician

Adjective

universal m. and f. (plural universais)

1. of or pertaining to the universe
2. world-wide, universal, common to all cultures

Synonyms

• (world-wide): mundial

Related terms

• universalidade
• universo

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Portuguese

Adjective

universal m. and f. (plural universais; comparable)

1. Of or pertaining to the universe; universal.
2. Common to all society; universal; world-wide.
3. Common to all members of a group or class; universal.

Inflection

  Inflection of the Portuguese adjective universal

• Adjectives with this inflection include: abdominal, medieval, normal.

	singular		plural
	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
positive	universal		universais
comparative	mais universal		mais universais
superlative	o mais universal universalíssimo	a mais universal universalíssima	os mais universais universalíssimos	as mais universais universalíssimas

Related terms

• universalidade
• universo

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Spanish

Adjective

universal m. and f. (plural universales)

1. universal

Related terms

• universalidad
• universalmente