universal
Syllables: uni·vers·alUK/ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsl̩//ˌjunəˈvɜɹs(ə)l/
universal adjective: of or pertaining to the universe.
Adjective
universal (comparative more universal, superlative most universal)
- Of or pertaining to the universe.
- Common to all members of a group or class.
- In Logic, the letter A is used as a symbol for the universal affirmative proposition in the general form "all x is y."1911, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
- I had been planning every day through these years toward a universal car.1922, Henry Ford, Samuel Crowther, chapter 4, in My Life and Work, Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- general
- Common to all society; worldwide, global.
- She achieved universal fame.
- [John] Dryden's univerſal genius, his firmly eſtablished reputation, and the glory his memory muſt always reflect upon the nation that gave him birth, make us ardently wiſh for a more accurate life of him than any which has hitherto appeared: […]a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The Life of John Dryden, Esq.”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume I, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC...
- Unlimited; vast; infinite.
- Playwrights have recognized the usefulness of this archetype and used him in many dramatic contexts, for the Trickster's freedom from determination gives him a universal fascination.1983, Wendy Griswold, “The Devil's Techniques: Cultural Legitimation and Social Change”, in American Sociological Review, volume 48, number 5, page 670a of 668–680
- Useful for many purposes; all-purpose.
- universal wrench
- Synonyms:
- general-purpose, multi-purpose
Noun
universal (plural universals)
- A characteristic or property that particular things have in common.
- 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.1912, Bertrand Russel, The Problems of Philosophy, Chapter 9
- 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...1970, John R. Searle, Speech acts
universal meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
universal in Hindi
- universal, whole
- विश्व viśva
- universal
- सार्वभौमिक sārvabhaumik, सार्वत्रिक sārvatrik
- universal, worldwide, all-pervading
- सार्वभौम sārvabhaum
universal in Tamil
- உலகளாவிய, முழுதளாவிய, உலகெலாம் சார்ந்த, எங்கும் நடைபெறுகிற, எல்லோருக்குமான, உலகம் தழுவிய
universal in Marathi
- सार्वत्रिक
universal in Urdu
- universal
- وشوہ viśva, عام 'ām
More languagesFewer languages
- universal in Bengali
- সার্বজনীন śarbojonin, সর্ব śorbo
- universal in Telugu
- సార్వత్రికం, యూనివర్సల్
- universal in Malayalam
- ലോക lōka, വിശ്വ viśva
- universal in Kannada
- ಎಲ್ಲೆಡೆಯ, ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಹೊತ್ತಿನ, ಎಲ್ಲೆಯಿಲ್ಲದ, ಎಲ್ಲದಕ್ಕೂ ಬಳಕೆಯಾಗುವ
- universal in Punjabi
- ਸਰਬਵਿਆਪੀ, ਸਰਵ ਵਿਆਪਕ, ਸਰਵਵਿਆਪੀ
- universal in Gujarati
- સાર્વત્રિક, યુનિવર્સલ
- universal in Odia
- ସାଧାରଣ sādhāraṇa
- universal in Sanskrit
- सामान्य sāmānya
- universal in Nepali
- सार्वभौमिक
- universal in Tagalog
- sansinukbin
- universal in Arabic
- كُلِّيَّة kulliyya
- universal in Malay
- sejagat, universal
- universal in Indonesian
- universal
- universal in Persian
- جهانی
- universal in Thai
- จักรวาล jàk-grà-waan, สากล sǎa-gon, ครอบจักรวาล, อเนกประสงค์ à-nêek-bprà-sǒng
Examples of universal in a sentence
- Sutton SignWriting is the universal and complete solution for written sign language, ISO 15924 script code "Sgnw".2022 January 30, Steve Slevinski, “Formal SignWriting”, in IETF, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2024:
- First there is no universal sizing system for carving tools.2026 August, Shea Alexander, “Basic Relief Carving Techniques”, in Popular Woodworking, volume 290, number 4, page 27:
Synonyms of universal
Antonyms
Forms of universal
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more universal |
| superlative | most universal |
| Noun | |
| plural | universals |
Origin of universal
From Middle English universal, from Old French universal (modern French universel), from Latin ūniversālis, equivalent to universe + -al.
Words formed from universal
- abstract universal
- angloversal
- areoversal
- interuniversal
- inter-universal Teichmüller theory
- last universal ancestor
- last universal common ancestor
- quasiuniversal
- Saybolt universal second
- subuniversal
- superuniversal
- universal algebra
- universal arithmetic
- universal bank
- universal banking
- universal basic income
- universal cabinet key
- universal chuck
- universal credit
- universal design
- universal design for instruction
- universal donor
- Universalglot
- universal grammar
- universal grinder
- Universalian
- universal instrument
- universalise
- universalize
- universalism
- universalist
- universalistic
- universal joint
- universal jurisdiction
- universal language
- universal lever
- universal logic gate
- universally
- universal masking
- universal mind
- universal morphism
- universalness
- universal opportunity
- universal packager
- universal product code
- universal property
- universal quantifier
- universal set
- universal shunt
- universal solvent
- universal sorter
- universal suffrage
- universal Turing machine
- universal value
- universal veil
- universanimous
- varioversal
Phrases with universal
- universal sets
- Universal Time
- universal banks
- universal veils
- universal chucks
- universal donors
- universal joints
- universal levers
- universal shunts
- universal values
- Universal Friends
- universal algebras
21 more phrasesFewer phrases
- universal grammars
- universal grinders
- universal solvents
- universal languages
- universal morphisms
- Universal Unitarian
- universal properties
- Universal Serial Bus
- Universal Unitarians
- universal instruments
- universal logic gates
- universal quantifiers
- Universal Postal Union
- universal product codes
- last universal ancestors
- Saybolt universal seconds
- universal Turing machines
- Coordinated Universal Time
- Universal Resource Locator
- last universal common ancestors
- Universal Core Syllable Condition
Words that rhyme with universal
Questions about universal
- What does universal mean?
- Universal means of or pertaining to the universe.
- What is universal in Hindi?
- Universal in Hindi is विश्व (viśva), सार्वभौमिक (sārvabhaumik), सार्वत्रिक (sārvatrik). See Universal meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use universal in a sentence?
- Sutton SignWriting is the universal and complete solution for written sign language, ISO 15924 script code "Sgnw".
- What part of speech is universal?
- Universal can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce universal?
- Universal is pronounced /ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsl̩/ (UK).
Words near universal in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: universal (page history and authors); विश्व (Hindi) (page history and authors); universal (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); universal (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); عام (Urdu) (page history and authors); সর্ব (Bengali) (page history and authors); universal (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); universal (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); universal (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); universal (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ସାଧାରଣ (Odia) (page history and authors); सामान्य (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); universal (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-universal.ogg.
Cite this entry: “universal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/universal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.