# utility
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English utilite, from Old French utilite, utilitet (“usefulness”), from Latin ūtilitās, from uti (“to use”). By surface analysis, utile +‎ -ity.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /juːˈtɪl.ɪ.ti/, /jəˈtɪl.ɪ.ti/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /juˈtɪl.ə.ti/, [juˈtɪl.ə.ɾi]
* Rhymes: -ɪlɪti

### Noun

utility (countable and uncountable, plural utilities)
* The state or condition of being useful; usefulness.
** 1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], “III”, in Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC:"The profession has its utility, but I should be sorry to see any friend of mine belonging to it."
* Something that is useful.
** 1945 November and December, H. C. Casserley, “Random Reflections on British Locomotive Types—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 320:Undoubtedly it can be said that the humble 0-6-0 has been the backbone for general service, or general utility on British railways right from their earliest days, and is likely to remain so.
* (economics) The ability of a commodity to satisfy needs or wants; the satisfaction experienced by the consumer of that commodity.
* (philosophy) Well-being, satisfaction, pleasure, or happiness.
* (business) A commodity or service provided on a continuous basis by a physical infrastructure network, such as electricity, water supply or sewerage.
    Synonym: service
** 2025 February 19, Chris Howe, “Euston: a work in progress”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 46:Elsewhere, utility diversion works are still scheduled to continue, with work to move a gas main on Drummond Street set to begin in early 2025.
* (business, finance, by extension) A natural or legal monopoly distributer of such a utility; or, the securities of such a provider.
* (computing) A software program designed to perform a single task or a small range of tasks, often to help manage and tune computer hardware, an operating system, or application software.
    Holonyms: app, application, program
    Coordinate terms: applet, worklet; trustlet
    I've bought a new disk utility that can recover deleted files.
** 1982, InfoWorld, volume 4, number 10, page 35:The system includes an 8080 and a Z80 assembler, a Tektronix format downloader and other utilities.
* (sports) The ability to play multiple positions.
* (Australia, New Zealand) A coupé utility, or ute; an automobile with an open tray or bed behind the passenger cabin.
** 1952, Nevil Shute, chapter 1, in The Far Country, Melbourne: Heinemann:Tim Archer got into the utility and drove[.] The car was a 1946 Chevrolet, somewhat battered by four years of station use, a sturdy practical vehicle with a coupé front seat and an open truck body behind.

#### Antonyms

* disutility
* inutility

#### Derived terms

* Asian utility vehicle
* beautility
* coupé utility
* law of diminishing marginal utility
* marginal utility
* multiutility
* public utility
* public utility bus
* public utility jeepney
* public utility van
* public utility vehicle
* sport utility vehicle
* transaction utility
* utilitarian
* utility ball
* utility bar
* utility belt
* utility bike
* utility calculus
* utility computing
* utility function
* utility furniture
* utility graph
* utility knife
* utility man
* utility model
* utility monster
* utility pigeon
* utility player
* utility pole
* utility program
* utility programme
* utility room
* utility sink
* utility trailer
* utility truck
* utility vehicle

#### Translations
### Adjective

utility
* Having to do with, or owned by, a service provider.
    utility line; utility bill
* (Of a building or its components) containing or intended for any of a building’s often-utility-related commodity transport, such as pipes or wires, or converting equipment, such as furnaces, water tanks or heaters, circuit breakers, central air conditioning units, laundry facilities, etc.
    utility room; utility corridor
* Functional rather than attractive.
** 1943 March and April, “G.W.R. Rolling Stock Colours”, in Railway Magazine, page 106:"Chocolate and cream," the standard colours of G.W.R. rolling stock for 21 years, are now being replaced by an all-over utility coating of reddish-brown. This is the third time that a uniform brown has been adopted as the standard livery of G.W.R. carriages.

#### Synonyms

* (state of being useful): usefulness, value, advantages, benefit, return, merits, virtue, note
* See also Thesaurus:utility

### References

* “utility”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

## Spanish
### Noun

utility m (plural utilitys)
* (sports) utility