▪ I. utile, a. Now rare.
(ˈjuːtaɪl)
Also 5–6 vtyle, 6 vtyll, utyle, utille.
[a. OF. (F.) utile (13th c.), ad. L. ūtilis, f. ūtī to use. Cf. It. utile, and OF., Pr., Sp., Pg. util.]
Useful, profitable, advantageous. Also const. to, unto.
| 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop i. x, Theyre felauship [sc. of evil folk] is not good ne vtyle. 1518 H. Watson Hist. Oliver of Castile (Roxb.) B 4, To whome it semeth good and vtyll for the prosperyte of bothe partyes. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 1072 Of all meates the best and most utille to the body of man is of capons. 1578 Banister Hist. Man v. 74 The most pure and vtile substaunce. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. lxx. 284 To shew that the conquest thereof would have been far more utile unto us. 1678 Gale Crt. Gentiles iv. iii. 5 Means utile and conducible to the promoting of Divine glorie. 1839 J. Rogers Antipopopr. i. 69 An order that He has given..to employ our energy in the utile pursuit of following. 1894 Advance (Chicago) 24 May, There is the cost value... There is the productive or utile value. |
| absol. 1685 Cotton tr. Montaigne (1711) III. 2 Wherein he quitted the utile for the honest. |
▪ II. utile, n.
(ˈjuːtɪlɪ)
[a. the specific epithet of the tree's Latin name: see utile a.]
The timber of a large West African forest tree, Entandrophragma utile, of the family Meliaceæ; also, the tree itself.
| 1956 Handbk. Of Hardwoods (Forest Prod. Res. Lab.) 228 Utile reaches a height of 150 ft or more. Ibid., In structure and general appearance utile resembles the closely allied sapele..and is somewhat more open in texture. 1970 Timber Trades Jrnl. 21 Mar. 54/1 There are now signs of weaker prices for utile. 1980 Yachts & Yachting 29 Feb. 680/2 As nice a piece of red utile as you'll see this side of a stereo cabinet. |