universal, a. (adv.) and n.
(juːnɪˈvɜːsəl)
Forms: α. 4–5 vni-, 5 unyuersel, 4 universiel (-uersele). β. 4–5 uny-, 5–6 vnyuersal, 5 -all, 4–7 vniuersal (5 -ale, -versale), 6–7 -all, vniversal(l, 5–6 universalle, 6 -uersalle, 6–7 uniuersal(l; 4, 6– universal. See also varsal a. and versal a.
[a. OF. universel, universal (12–13th c.; F. universel, = It. universale, Sp. and Pg. universal), or ad. L. ūniversāl-is (post-Aug.), f. ūniversus: see universe and -al1. The n. occurs in OF. universal (1372), in F. (17th c.) in pl. universaux universals (see B. 1), F. universel (16th c.) the universe, It. universale.
Early examples in verse exhibit stressing on the second or fourth syllable.]
A. adj.
1. a. Extending over, comprehending, or including the whole of something specified or implied; prevalent over all.
Contexts in which the reference is to the whole of a particular community are numerous, esp. in groups b and c.
Freq. the adj. develops a more or less specialized sense, as in universal grammar, universal root, universal succession; see also 14.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. v. pr. iv. (1868) 165 Resoun surmounteth ymaginacioun and comprehendeþ by an vniuersel lokynge þe commune spece þat is in þe singuler peces. c 1386 ― Pars. T. ¶292 His contricioun{ddd}shal been vniuersal [Camb. MS. vnyuersel] and total, this is to seyn, a man shal be verray repentaunt for alle hise synnes. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 77 Ther felle wondres many on Of terre⁓mote universiel. 1398 Trevisa Barth. de P.R. (W. de W. 1495) ii. xii. 39 By an vnyuersall excellence the hygher angellis ben areryd aboue a subieccion. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 45 Of the vniuersall carde and newe worlde. Ibid. 211 After my vniuersall description of the historie of the Indies. 1557 Recorde Whetst. Rr iij b, These rootes therefore bee called vniuersalle rootes, because thei are the rootes..of the whole compounde nomber. 1597 Blundevil Exerc. iii. i. xv. (ed. 2) 150 The Moone..cannot shadow all the Earth, and therefore the Eclipse of the Sunne cannot be vniuersall. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Jack a Lent Wks. 118/1 The knauery of the Baker is vniuersal, in Asia, Europa, Afrike, and America. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §32 The loudest and most universal rejoycing over the whole Kingdom. 1697 Dryden æneis viii. 194 What further force can stay The victor troops from universal sway? 1736 Butler Anal. ii. vi, As neither the iewish nor christian Revelation have been universal. 1751 Harris Hermes Wks. (1841) 120 How few, then, must be those who know grammar universal; that grammar which..only respects those principles that are essential to them all? 1765–8 Erskine Inst. Law Scot. iii. viii. §1 This kind of succession is called universal; and may be defined, the right of an heir or executor to enter upon the estate which belonged to a person deceased at the time of his death. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 204 The slope of faces..Relax'd into an universal grin. 1822 Byron Vis. Judgem. xxvii, The gate flew Asunder, and the flashing of its hinges Flung over space an universal hue Of many-colour'd flame. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. i. 226 This is now the universal belief. 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xxiv, The day was kept as a universal holiday. |
b. Affecting or involving the whole of something specified or implied;
spec. in
Path. (see
quot. 1876).
| c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2295 Gretter cheerte He hadde of the profet vniuersel Than of hym self. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 64 Without dout it schal cure perfitely, vniuersale purgacions goyng afore. a 1475 Ashby Active Policy 772 The vniuersal And the comyn wele of this Region. 1542 Boorde Dyetary xxxvi. (1870) 297 They the whiche haue the Palsye, vnyuersall or pertyculer, must beware of anger. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 108 The Emperour doth establyshe a vniuersall peace throughout Germany. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. v. ii. 100 If all the world could haue seen't, the Woe had beene vniuersall. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. ii. vi. (1674) 140 In Germany, and in universal concerns, there appears but one only Commonwealth.., but many in particulars. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 827 At length [Tisiphone] strikes an Universal Blow; To Death at once whole Herds of Cattle go. 1734 Pope Ess. Man. iv. 114 God sends not ill; if rightly understood, Or partial Ill is universal Good. 1754 Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. 11 Are you alone exempt from this common, this universal Blindness? 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey vi. i, The battle was general, the overthrow universal. 1876 Duhring Dis. Skin 52 When an eruption involves the whole surface, it is said to be universal. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 44 What a preferable state were universal happiness? |
c. Proceeding from the whole body or number; committed, given, made, etc., by all without exception of the persons to whom there is reference or allusion.
| 1586 Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 41 The vniuersall sentence of the whole boord. 1611 Coryat Crudities 627 The vniuersall suffrage of all the learned. 1663 Bp. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xxxviii, His title and claim unto our universal obedience. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 30 Baron..discharged that Office [of Consul] with honour and universal Approbation. 1701 Swift Contests Nobles & Comm. v, For a house of commons to lose the universal favour of the numbers they represent. a 1800 Cowper Odyss. (ed. 2) xxiv. 598 Forefathers, whose exploits Have shared so long, such universal praise. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India III. 432 An almost universal insurrection of the Bhils. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. xvii. IV. 91 The English visitors were the objects of universal attention, of universal admiration. 1871 Jowett Plato II. 185 The universal voice of mankind is saying that [etc.]. |
† d. Applied to the whole body.
Obs.—1| 1725 Fam. Dict. s.v. Fomentation, A Bath is universal, and therefore never made use of to Horses, because of their large Size. |
2. a. Qualifying (in senses 1 and 1 a) agent-nouns, personal designations, or titles;
freq. in
universal bishop,
esp. (now
Hist.) as a title assumed by or given to some of the Popes.
| c 1380 Antecrist in Todd Three Treat. Wyclif 118 Oo bischop þat wole be clepid vnyuersal bischop. 1483 Caxton Cato a ij b, God is the unyuersal commaunder of alle our production. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 38 The universal Lord of all this world. 1582 T. W[ilcox] B. de Loque's Disc. Ch. 73 Saint Peter was not an vniuersall Apostle, nor a soueraigne and high bishoppe ouer all the Churche. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. xiii. 71 To heare frome me you had..put your selfe vnder his shrowd, the vniuersal Landlord [sc. Julius Cæsar]. 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 474 Boniface the third obtained of Phocas..to be called vniuersall Bishop. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 317 Here shalt [thou] Reigne Both God and Man,..Anointed universal King. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Oecumenical, Supposing the Title Oecumenic to imply Universal Bishop, or Bishop of all the World. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 449 The universal Father's love. 1818 Shelley Homer's Hymn to Earth 1 O universal Mother, who dost keep From everlasting thy foundations deep! 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. xxiv. V. 391 He became universal landlord, but he did not cease to be universal ruler. |
b. In legal use (
spec. in
Scots Law): Of or in respect of the whole estate or property.
| 1669 in W. M. Morison Dict. Decis. (1807) 16167 His executor and universal legatar. 1702 London Gazette No. 3806. 6 His Majesty has..appointed the Prince of Frise to be his Universal Heir. 1765–8 Erskine Inst. Law Scot. iii. ix. §6 Where a settlement is made by the deceased of the whole or the universitas of his moveable estate, the person gratified is called universal legatee. 1790 in Nairne Peerage Evidence (1874) 99 The said Marg{supt} Mercer to be my sole executor and universal intromitter. |
c. Scots Law. Succeeding to an estate by a universal, as distinct from a singular, title.
| 1681 Stair Inst. xxvi. 92 Heirs in Law are called Universal Successors,..[because] they do wholly represent the defunct. 1838 Bell Dict. Law Scot. 951 In this sense the two terms of singular successor and universal successor are opposed to each other. |
3. a. Of or pertaining to the universe in general or all things in it; existing or occurring everywhere or in all things;
occas., of or belonging to all nature. Chiefly
poet. or
rhet.| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 91 Yit withouten eny forme Was that matiere universal, Which hihte ylem. 1637 Milton Lycidas 60 Her inchanting son Whom Universal nature did lament. 1643 Swan Spec. Mundi (ed. 2) 213 These things..are but in particular seas,..where a generall and universall cause may be much hindered. 1731 Bolingbroke Let. to Swift 2 Aug., The first epistle, which considers man..relatively to the whole system of universal being. 1738 Gray Propertius iii. v. 18 That first, eternal, universal Cause. 1819 Shelley Peter Bell 3rd v. viii, On the universal sky. 1823 S. Rogers Italy, St. Mark's Place 165 Subtle, invisible, And universal as the air. 1848 R. I. Wilberforce Doctr. Incarnation xi. (1852) 267 The Universal Mind which pervades all things. |
b. poet. as an epithet of Pan.
| 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 266 While Universal Pan Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance Led on th' Eternal Spring. 1809 Wordsw. ‘O'er the wide earth’ 3 A Godhead, like the universal Pan. 1820 Shelley Witch Atlas ix, And universal Pan, 'tis said, was there. |
c. Of language, etc.: Adopted, (intended to be) used, understood, etc., everywhere or by all nations;
freq. = Latin.
| 1652 Urquhart Jewel 24 Bringing all these words within the systeme of a Language, which..may..be intituled The Universal Tongue. 1653 ― Logopandect. 13 So can there be no Universal Language but this I am about to divulge unto the world. Ibid., The Universal Alphabet therefore must be first conceived. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 13 A Real universal Character. 1756 M. Calderwood in Coltness Collect. 131 The universall language so much wished for. 1793 Martyn Lang. Bot. Pref. p. xiii, The advantage which is derived from speaking and writing one universal language. 1818 Hazlitt Eng. Poets i. 2 Poetry is the universal language which the heart holds with nature and itself. 1836 (title), Universal Character; or, Manner of Writing intelligible to the Inhabitants of every Country. 1885, 1890 [see Volapük]. |
d. Mil. Of stores: (see
quot.).
| 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 446/2 Universal..is applied to certain stores of a general pattern, such as the saddlery and harness now in use in the army. |
† 4. Not going into details or particulars; general.
Obs.—1| c 1430 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 5 (MS. Addit.), Chap. j of broken bonys an vniuersel word. |
† 5. a. Of a council: General, œcumenical (see
council 2).
Obs. rare.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) V. 241 A cownsayle universalle of vj{supc} and xxxti bischoppes hade at Calcedonia. |
† b. Made up of, inclusive of, all.
Obs.—1| 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. vi. 36 Many fair fountaines, which after a long..course do come altogether into an vniuersall flood [Fr. vn vniuersel fleuve]. |
† 6. Of persons: Preserving the same attitude
to all.
Obs.—1| c 1450 in Aungier Syon (1840) 269 The presidente..owethe to be unyuersal to al and not parcial. |
7. Of the church: Of, belonging to, or including all persons; consisting of the whole body of Christians;
= catholic a. 5.
| 1483 Caxton Cato b ij, Our moder chyrche unyuersall. 1509 Paternoster, Ave & Creed (W. de W.) a iij, I trowe in y⊇ holy goost, holy chirche Unyversall [etc.]. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 3 The haly spreit quhilk is ane daily techeour and governour of the hail universal kirk. 1620 T. Granger Div. Logike 227 Euen the vniuersall Church may erre. 1645 Ussher Body Div. (1647) 187 The Catholick Church, that is, God's whole or universall Assembly. 1663–70 South Serm. (1715) IV. 281 The Universal Christian Church. 1807 J. Crook (title), The Universal Church; an Essay on Nature, as the Universal Basis of Truth, Perfection, and Salvation. 1893 Liddon, etc. Life Pusey I. 417 The Ancient Fathers..bring the thought of particular Churches into community with the thought of the Universal Church when outwardly united. |
8. Constituting or forming, existing or regarded as, a complete whole; entire, whole.
a. Of the world, earth, etc.
Common in 16th c.; now somewhat
rare. See
varsal a. 1.
| 1470–85 Malory Arthur v. i. 160 That noble empyre whiche domyneth vpon the vnyuersal world. 1480 Caxton Myrr. Prol. 4 b, The situacion..of the firmament, and how the vnyuersal erthe hangeth in the myddle of the same. 1513 Douglas æneid vi. xii. 10 By his power mydlit is our all This meikle body clepit vniuersall. 1527 R. Thorne in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 253 This Card, though little, conteineth the vniuersall whole world. 1649 Quarles Virgin Widow ii. i, 'Twas for nothing in the universal world but for killing a rich Patient. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 154 Thine this universal Frame, Thus wondrous fair. [Hence in Blackmore Creation v. 657, Cowper Retirement 90.] Ibid. vii. 257 With joy and shout The hollow Universal Orb they fill'd. 1823 W. Faux Mem. Days 212, I would live no where else in all the universal world. 1859 Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) II. 169 Now I care not what the universal world says. |
b. In general use.
| 1502 W. Atkynson tr. De Imitatione iv. xviii. (1893) 282 All the vniuersall people prayse the. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 48 At midde day through the vniuersal yere. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. iii. 73 b, Their order vniuersall is distributed in tenths. 1603 Daniel Def. Ryme G 3 b, Euery Rymer in this vniuersall Iland. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 113 Neither cement nor wood was imploied thorowout the vniuersall fabricke. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 541 The universal Host upsent A shout that tore Hells Concave. 1830–1860 in Thornton Amer. Gloss. (1912) s.v., The Universal Yankee nation. 1871 Blackie Four Phases i. 27 The political importance..had been blazoned forth before universal Greece. |
9. a. Of persons: Instructed or learned in all or many subjects; having an extensive knowledge or experience; widely accomplished; interested in or devoted to a great variety of subjects; having a wide range of interests or activities. Also of the mind or disposition.
| 1520 Caxton's Chron. Eng. iv. 32 b/2 He [Adrian] was an vnyuersall man almost in all scyences. 1540 J. Heywood Four P.P. B ij, Why be ye so vniuersall, That ye can do what so euer ye shall. 1631 Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 383 One William West, a Canon of Saint Pauls,..a good companion, a man vniuersall, affable, and curteous. 1679 Dryden Pref. to Troylus & Cress. ad fin., Shakespeare had an universal mind. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 5 Mar. 1673, This gentleman is a very excellent and universal scholar. Ibid. 19 July 1691, I never knew a man of a more universal and generous spirit. a 1715 Burnet Own Time ii. x. (1897) I. 427 He was..very universal in all other learning. 1749 Smollett Gil Blas xi. v, He sets up for an universal man, because he has a small tincture of every science. 1829 Lytton Devereux ii. vi, Don Saltero is a universal genius. 1833 Coleridge Table-t. 17 Feb., Shakspeare is universal, and in fact has no manner. 1841 D'Israeli Amen. Lit. III. 178 With a universal mind Rawleigh was eager after universal knowledge. |
b. Not limited or restricted to any particular branch or class of work, etc.
† attorney universal, an Attorney-General (
obs.);
universal maid, a maid of all work, a general servant;
Universal Aunts, the name of a company incorporated in 1922 and based in London, which provides domestic assistance to its clients through a staff of professional helpers; hence
Universal Aunt, a member of the organization; usually
transf. Cf. aunt 1 b. Similarly
Universal Uncle.
| 1637 J. Bastwick (title), The Answer..to the Information of Sir John Bancks, Knight, Atturney universall. 1770 R. Weston (title), The Universal Botanist and Nurseryman, etc. 1840 Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story iii, She had been in the kitchen helping Becky, the universal maid. 1922 Certificate of Incorporation No. 185,178 (Department of Trade) 20 Oct., I hereby certify that Universal Aunts, Limited is this day incorporated under the Companies Acts..and that the Company is Limited... Registrar of Joint Stock Companies. 1923 Westm. Gaz. 10 Jan. 7/6 Associations such as ‘Universal Aunts’ and ‘Useful Women’ who supply workers for..social work. 1929 M. Allingham Mystery Mile iii. 38 He's really a sort of ‘Universal Aunt’, isn't he? ‘Your adventures undertaken for a small fee.’ 1931 ― Look to Lady iii. 42, I am..a sort of universal uncle, a policeman's friend and master⁓crook's factotum. 1937 A. Thirkell Summer Half viii. 229 The universal uncle went down to dinner. 1961 Listener 12 Oct. 576/1 His role of cultural Universal Uncle. 1978 M. Dickens Open Book iv. 33 There was a domestic agency in Knightsbridge called Universal Aunts—now in Chelsea—which was famous for doing things that real aunts ought to be doing, like meeting small boys from India at the boat train and taking them across London to their train for school. |
c. Embracing or covering all (or a great variety of) subjects, branches of knowledge, etc. Also
universal decimal classification, a form of decimal library classification (see
decimal a. 1 a).
| 1638 R. Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II) 39 His knowledge is so universal, and comprehends such an infinite number of things that one cannot touch upon any point where he is not ready for you. 1688–9 (title), The Universal Intelligence. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. iv. iii. §28 For wherever we want that, we are utterly uncapable of universal and certain Knowledge. 1786 (title), The Fashionable Magazine,..being a Compleat Universal Repository of Taste, Elegance, and Novelty for both Sexes. 1821 A. Jamieson (title), Universal Science, or the Cabinet of Nature and Art. 1841 [see sense 9 a]. 1861–5 (title), Beeton's Dictionary of Universal Information. 1882–4 (title), Universal Instructor; or, Self-Culture for All. 1930 [see decimal a. 1 a]. 1949 College & Research Libraries Oct. 333 The Universal Decimal Classification (U.D.C.). This last was the name given to the ‘Brussels expansion’ of the Decimal Classification and Relative Index of Melvil Dewey. 1958 B.S.I. News Sept. 12/1 The B.S.I., with the support of ASLIB and the Library Association, is arranging a series of one-day discussions on universal decimal classification. |
† 10. With
pl. ns. All, every one, regarded collectively as a body or whole.
Obs. rare.
| 1530–1 Act 22 Hen. VIII, c. 14 His lyberall and free habytations resortes and passages to and fro the vniuersall places of this realme. 1563 Homilies ii. The Sacrament ii. 458 b, Wherfore, let vs all vniuersall and singuler, beholde our owne maners and lyues, to amend them. |
11. a. Logic. Applicable to, extending or relating to, involving, the whole of a class or genus, or all the individuals or species forming it;
spec. of a proposition: Predicable of each of the things denoted by the subject. Opposed to
particular.
| 1551 T. Wilson Logike G viii, The first proposition must be vniuersall euer, or els it is not good. 1606 L. Bryskett Civ. Life 124 That sense is busied about things particular, and..onely things vniuersall are knowne. 1650 Hobbes Hum. Nat. v. 50 The appellations that be universal, and common to many things, are not always given to all the particulars. 1697 tr. Burgersdicius' Logic i. xvii. 66 Cause efficient is divided into universal and particular. Universal is that which concurrs with other causes. 1725 Watts Logic (1726) 36 This sort of universal Ideas, which may either be considered as a Genus, or a Species, is call'd Subaltern. Ibid. 147 An universal Proposition is when the Subject is taken according to the whole of its Extension. 1842 Abp. Thomson Laws Th. 64 As to Quantity, judgments are either Universal, Particular, or Singular. 1885 J. Martineau Types Eth. Th. I. i. ii. §8. 201 What is there ‘universal’ in this geometrical equation? |
b. Applicable to, operative or valid in, all cases. Of a law or rule (
cf. general a. 5 b).
| 1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus R j b, Yet the vniuersallest Axiomes haue their cautions. 1651 Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxvi. 148 Naturall Lawes being Eternall, and Universall, are all Divine. 1667 Sprat Hist. R. Soc. 247 A universal Standard, or measure of Magnitudes, by the help of a Pendulum. 1687 P. Ayres Lyric Poems (1906) 309 This Universal Remedy, To hope and live. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. General, A General Rule, q.d. an universal Rule. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physick (1762) p. xxvii, It comes the nearest an Universal Medecine. 1839 Dickens Nich. Nick. ix, As there is no reason to suppose that she was a solitary exception to a universal rule. 1884 tr. Lotze's Metaph. 117 The validity of Universal laws. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 317 Compelled to employ that only universal solvent, a cash payment. |
† 12. Of motion or action: Constant, continual, perpetual.
Obs. rare.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 305 Why, vniuersall plodding poysons vp The nimble spirits in the arteries. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. vi. 137 [The comet] mooved daily with an vniversal motion, from East to Weast. |
13. Of implements, machines or their parts, etc.: Adjustable to all conditions or requirements; not restricted to one fixed type of operation, but capable of variety of work; adapted to various purposes, sizes, forms, etc.
Freq.
universal joint, a joint or coupling which permits of free movement in any direction of the parts joined,
spec. one which does this in such a way that one of the connected parts conveys rotary action to the other.
A number of other instances in purely technical use are recorded in Knight's
Dict. Mech. (1875) and
Suppl. (1884), and recent Dicts. (1891–).
| 1676 Hooke Helioscopes 14 The Universal Joynt for all these manner of operations. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 373 Pendant Dials.., commonly called Equinoctial or Universal Dials, are most used by Sea-Men and Travellers. 1700 Moxon Math. Instr. s.v., [The] Universal Equinoctial Dial..finds the Latitude and Hour of the day and most propositions on the Globe. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 111 The stop and fence of the universal plough. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 324 On the end, n, of the spindle P,..is screwed occasionally an universal chuck for holding any kind of work which is to be turned. 1829 Nat. Philos., Mechanics ii. xiii. 62 (L.U.K.), Hooke's universal joint is a very simple and effectual method of transferring rotation from one axis to another. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Universal train, a roll train having adjustable horizontal and vertical rolls, so as to produce sections of various sizes. 1888 Jacobi Printers' Vocab., Universal machine, a jobbing platen machine—for steam or treadle. |
14. Special collocations:
universal arithmetic,
† mathematics, algebra;
universal donor Med., a person whose blood is group O (so called because before the discovery of other blood group systems group O blood was thought to be compatible with that of any individual);
Universal Product Code N. Amer. (see
quot. 1979);
Universal Provider, the name of a well-known general store formerly trading in London;
freq. with small initials and
transf.;
universal quantifier Logic [
tr. G.
allgemeiner quantificator ({Lbar}ukasiewicz & Tarski 1930, in
Sprawozdania z Posiedze{nacu} Towar{zacu}ystwa naukowego Warszawskiego (Wydział III) XXIII. 44)], a quantifier referring to all the members of a universe or class;
universal set Logic and
Math. = universe 2 d;
universal suffrage, a suffrage extending to the whole of a community,
esp. one in virtue of which all persons (formerly all male persons) over a certain age, except lunatics, aliens, and criminals, have the right to vote for representatives to a legislative (usually parliamentary) assembly; hence
universal suffragist;
universal time, Greenwich time calculated from midnight at the Greenwich meridian (rather than from noon, as formerly);
universal umbel (see
quot.).
| 1720 Raphson, etc. (title), *Universal Arithmetick: or, a Treatise of Arithmetical Composition and Resolution. Translated from the Latin [of Newton's Arithmetica Universalis (1707)]. 1826 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) I. 524/2 The title Universal Arithmetic very inadequately expresses the nature, objects, and extent of this department of Analysis. |
| 1922 G. Keynes Blood Transfusion iv. 72 Individuals of Groups I and IV have therefore been named ‘universal recipients’ and ‘*universal donors’ respectively. 1976 Edington & Gilles Path. in Tropics (ed. 2) 480 Universal donor group O blood should not therefore be employed for transfusing A or B recipients without prior investigation. |
| 1673 J. Kersey Algebra b 3, The learned Works of which [they].. proclaim their rare Talents in *Universal Mathematicks. 1752 (title), The Elements of Universal Mathematics, or Algebra; to which is added, a Specimen of a Commentary on Sir Isaac Newton's Universal Arithmetic. |
| 1974 Consumer Reports (U.S.) May 364/2 A computer..knows the package code (the grocery industry has agreed on a *universal product code). 1979 Hammond Almanac 1980 761/2 Universal Product Code, a pattern of lines and numbers by which information about a product may be encoded for automatic scanning by a device..that records its price for charging the consumer as well as its stock numbers, inventory, etc. |
| 1884 List of Subscribers (London & Globe Telephone Co.), Whiteley, W., *Universal Provider, Westbourne Grove, W. 1903 Beerbohm Around Theatres (1924) I. 461 As a curate he has to offer that consolation of which he is universal provider. 1953 Guardian 11 Sept. 6/5 To our children we will always be a kind of Universal Provider, vague of face but soft of bosom. 1962 Sunday Express 23 Dec. 2/4 The world⁓famous ‘Universal Provider’. Anything from a flea to an elephant..Whiteley boasted he could provide. |
| [1845 Encycl. Metrop. I. 207/1 When the subject of a Proposition is a common Term, the universal signs (‘all, no, every’) are used.] 1936 Amer. Jrnl. Math. LVIII. 353 Then..(x)P and ({semE}x)P are propositions of elementary number theory, where (x) and ({semE}x) are respectively the *universal and existential quantifiers. 1940, etc. [see quantifier 1 a]. 1961 J. E. Whitesitt Boolean Algebra iii. 60 {udA}x is called the universal quantifier of the variable x and is usually read ‘for all x’ or ‘for every x’. 1980 E. P. Lynch Applied Symbolic Logic i. 11 The universal quantifiers are ‘all’, ‘for every’, ‘for all’, and so on. |
| [1910 Whitehead & Russell Principia Mathematica I. i. 30 The class determined by a function which is always true is called the universal class, and is represented by V.] 1959 *Universal set [see solution set s.v. solution n. 12]. 1975 I. Stewart Concepts Mod. Math. iv. 57 In any particular problem, the sets one is concerned with often lie inside some reasonably small universal set. |
| 1706 De Foe Jure Div. v. 3 The Land divided, Right to rule divides, And *universal Suffrage then provides. 1798 [see suffrage 10 b]. 1817 Cobbett Pol. Reg. XXXII. 226 That, as to Universal Suffrage, you cannot help calling it universal impracticability. 1857 D. P[useley] Rise Australia, etc. 69 Even absolutism with its attendants evils would..be preferable to universal suffrage. |
| 1822 Blackw. Mag. XII. 156 If they come back *Universal Suffragists. 1834 M. Edgeworth Helen xxxv, It is curious that..Louisa Castlefort, should be obliged..to..turn ultra liberale, or an universal suffragist. |
| 1882 Monthly Notices R. Astron. Soc. XLII. 205 (heading) *Universal time and the selection of a prime meridian. Ibid., The American Meteorological Society further considered it desirable that in the future a universal time reckoned from the meridian 180° from that of Greenwich should be generally introduced. 1969 Times 24 June 4/7 The object rose above the eastern horizon at 2.49 a.m., universal time. |
| 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. i. viii (1765) 17 The Umbel that bears the Umbellula on its Footstalks, is called an *universal Umbel. |
15. quasi-adv. a. Universally; in all places.
b. With universal power.
rare.
| 1524 in Acta Parlt. Scotl. (1875) XII. 40/2 Þat Justice Airis be halden universale throu oute þe Ralme. 1759 Mason Caractacus 86 What, if Cæsar aims To lord it universal o'er the world. |
16. absol. with
the.
a. The whole of, all of (something expressed or implied);
spec. in
Logic and
Philos., the whole class or genus, as distinct from the individuals comprising it.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. v. pr. iv. (1868) 165 For resoun is she þat diffinisseþ þe vniuersel of hir conseite ryȝt þus. 1551 T. Wilson Logike I i b, From the vniuersall to the particular, the argument goeth well. 1818 Coleridge Friend (ed. 2) I. 269 The ideas of the Necessary and the Universal. 1865 Mozley Mirac. ii. 46 The universal as a law and the universal as a proposition are wholly distinct. 1871 Jowett Plato I. 265 Tell me what virtue is in the universal. |
† b. by or in the universal, in respect of, or with reference to, the whole class; in general terms; generally.
Obs.| 1552 Latimer Serm. (1562) 127 Suche a maner of speakyng is vsed in the scripture, to speake by the vniuersall: meaning a great numbre, but yet not all: only those that be giltie. 1628 Spencer Logick 206 Both of these distinct formes are one, and the same thing in the generall, or vniversall. |
† c. The whole community; the people in general.
Obs.| 1676 in Brent's Counc. Trent p. lxx, Which hath produced..a most intense desire of the conservation of their good Servant, and in the universal a more glorious fame to see..so singular a favour. |
† 17. in universal:
a. As a body or whole; collectively.
b. In respect of every thing or part; entirely, wholly.
Obs.| 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love ii. xiii. (Skeat) l. 70 At the ginninge of the worlde, every thing by him-selfe was good; and in universal they weren right good. 1615 in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 168 The Spaniard interdicteth Trade to the East Indies in universal, and the Hollanders but to a part. |
B. n. 1. a. Logic and
Philos. That which is predicated or asserted of all the individuals or species of a class or genus, or of many things which are regarded as forming a class; an abstract or general concept regarded either as having an absolute, mental, or nominal existence; a universal proposition; a general term, notion, or idea. Chiefly in
pl. and opposed to
particulars or
singulars.
In mediæval Scholastic philosophy the nature of universals gave rise to the great controversy which resulted in the division of the Schoolmen into Realists, Nominalists, and Conceptualists, according to their respective theories.
| sing. 1553 Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 9 A perticuler proueth no vniuersall. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. 141 It is merely a notional and imaginary thing, an abstract universal, which is properly nothing, a conception of our own making. 1697 tr. Burgersdicius' Logic. i. i. 3 A universal is that which is apt..to be predicated of many things, as man, horse, plant, &c. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Predicable, Thus Animal is an Universal, with regard to Man and Beast. 1751 Phil. Trans. XLVII. 314 The business of natural philosophy is..to note down facts,..and..to collect their proper universal, by a fair..induction. Ibid. A new collection of constant and similar facts affords an higher universal. |
| pl. 1606 L. Bryskett Civ. Life 124 As the hand is apt to take hold of all instruments; so is this power or facultie apt to apprehend the formes of all things, from whence grow the vniuersals. a 1676 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. (1677) 28 For Universals are but Notions and Entia Rationis. 1725 Watts Logic (1726) 36 Some of these Universals are Genus's, if compared with less common Natures. 1794 Burke On Petition of Unitarians Wks. 1842 II. 474 No rational man ever did govern himself, by abstractions and universals. 1837 Hallam Hist. Lit. i. iii. §67 The long controversies between the Realists and Nominalists concerning the nature of universals. 1860 Abp. Thomson Laws Th. (ed. 5) §62 Universals..or those general properties which many things share alike, and which are acquired by the mind only by abstracting from the things that exhibit them. 1889 Mivart Orig. Hum. Reason 43 General ideas, or ‘universals’, only arise in our mind after we have experienced corresponding groups of sense-impressions. |
† b. pl. Items of general information or news.
| 1650 Howell Lett. III. 3 This Letter runs upon Universalls, because I know your Lordship hath..a spacious understanding, which comprehends the whole world. |
† c. Abstract magnitude or volume.
Obs.| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 66 Universal, or boak, as taken in the Mathematicks. |
2. That which is universal;
esp. one who or that which is universally powerful, potent, current, etc.
| 1556 Olde Antichrist 49 For that cause this honour ought to be graunted to the bishop of Constantinople, that he maye be called the universall of all prelates and the bishop of bishoppes. 1709 Mrs. Manley Secret Mem. (1720) III. 122 Omnipotent Gold has a Power so extensive, that we presume we are not guilty of Hyperbole..in representing it, as the grand Universal. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. xiv. vii. VI. 528 The primitive word for ‘father’ is so nearly an universal, that [etc.]. |
† 3. The universe.
Obs. (common 1600–1625).
| 1569 J. Sandford tr. Agrippa's Van. Artes 65 b, It is no lesse folie to saye that, in the universall, is but one worlde alone. 1591 Sparry tr. Cattan's Geomancie 23 So the Earth..resteth in the middle of the whole vniuersall. 1613 Chapman Rev. Bussy d' Ambois iii. iv. 72 Hee that striues t'inuert The Vniuersals course with his poore way. 1628 Feltham Resolves ii. lviii. 168 There is a secret chaine in Nature, which drawes the Vniversall to revenge a vice. |
† 4. A medicament or remedy affecting the whole body or system.
Obs.| 1656 J. Smith Pract. Physick 119 Gallen commends a Bath after Universals. 1694 Salmon Bate's Dispens. Pref. A 4 b, Russel's Powder,..that Fam'd Universal, which for these twenty-five Years last past has obtain'd a general Reputation..in a manner through the whole World. Ibid. i. xvii. 793/2 If it be used for a Gonorrhœa,..Universals ought to be premised, that the Body may be cleansed as much as may be. |
5. An artificial language invented for universal use by H. Molenaar; also known as
Pan-Roman.
Cf. sense 3 c of the
adj.| 1907, etc. [see Pan-Roman, Panroman]. 1928 O. Jespersen International Lang. 40 Among numerous systems of the same type, but not worked out to the same extent as Neutral, I shall here mention only H. Molenaar's Universal (1906). 1947 [see neutral n. 5]. |
6. Linguistics. Any of the fundamental rules or features proposed as universal attributes of natural languages (see
quots.).
| 1948 B. W. & E. G. Aginsky in Word IV. 109 What are the universals of language?.. All languages employ sound sequences in which may be discerned a limited number of recurring types of speech-sound segments. These..are meaningless.., but enter into the meaningful units of form, the morphemes. All languages employ such morphemes in sequences. 1964 Katz & Postal Integrated Theory of Linguistic Descriptions 160 A formal universal is a specification of the form of a statement in a linguistic description, while a substantive universal is a concept or set of concepts out of which particular statements in a linguistic description are constructed. 1965 N. Chomsky Aspects of Theory of Syntax i. 28 The study of linguistic universals is the study of the properties of any generative grammar for a natural language. Ibid., It is useful to classify linguistic universals as formal or substantive. A theory of substantive universals claims that items of a particular kind in any language must be drawn from a fixed class of items. 1972 Hartmann & Stork Dict. Lang. & Linguistics 245/2 Examples of universals are the conventional character of language.., the duality of transmission and reception, the presence of names and deictic elements. A distinction is sometimes made between substantive universals, i.e. features of sound substance such as the phonological elements..and formal universals which are made explicit by the linguist in the form of grammatical rules. 1973 Language XL. 178 It seems to be a language universal that productive inflectional morphemes are not only very short, but also employ a reduced inventory of phonemes. |
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Universal Serial Bus n. Electronics an international specification for a device to interconnect computers, peripherals, game consoles, televisions, etc., using a set of simple plugs, sockets, and lightweight cables; a connector that conforms to this specification; abbreviated
USB.
| 1995 InfoWorld 20 Mar. 1/2 One of those technologies to be launched at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference this week is the *Universal Serial Bus (USB), a faster, more robust version of the existing serial port. 1999 Khaleej Times 7 Nov. 33/3 The XK35c is designed for home users. It can connect to your computer with either a parallel printer cable or a Universal Serial Bus interface. 2001 Contact May 27/1 Rather than connect to your PC's parallel port or SCSI card—or even plug into a PC Card slot—this one uses the Universal Serial Bus. |