universal1
/juːnɪˈvəːs(ə)l
/adjective
1Relating to or done by all people or things in the world or in a particular group; applicable to all cases: universal adult suffrage the incidents caused universal concern...
- Trinidad was granted universal adult suffrage in 1945.
- After World War II, universal adult suffrage was introduced and a party system was developed.
- It is rooted in a specific place and culture, but the concerns are universal.
Synonyms
general, ubiquitous, comprehensive, common, omnipresent, all-embracing, all-inclusive, all-round, across the board;
global, worldwide, international, widespread, blanket, sweeping, rampant, catholic, inescapable, pervading, pervasive, permeating
1.1 Logic Denoting a proposition in which something is asserted of all of a class. Contrasted with particular.He connects it with the thesis that only universal propositions can be known.
1.2 Linguistics Denoting or relating to a grammatical rule, set of rules, or other linguistic feature that is found in all languages.Instead, slang and universal loanwords are used, a so - called ‘globespeak.’
1.3(Of a tool or machine) adjustable to or appropriate for all requirements.As a universal machine, the computer and particularly its software are the centre of interest....
- Today the computer is the universal machine that is driving the Information Age.
- There's a yawning chasm between their user-experience of partially-universal machines and universal machines.
noun
1A thing having universal effect, currency, or application, in particular:
1.1 Logic A universal proposition.If laws are thought of in some other way - for example, as involving relations of necessitation amongst universals - then the proposal may be more promising....
- Consider as a definiendum a universal, such as man, and its definiens, rational animal.
1.2 Philosophy A term or concept of general application.If we move from universals to concepts in general, we can see how category theory could be useful even in cognitive science....
- The Idea is composed of universals, general concepts, whereas Nature comprises myriads of particular things.
- Abelard defends his thesis that universals are nothing but words by arguing that ontological realism about universals is incoherent.
1.3 Philosophy A nature or essence signified by a general term.Human existence has remained under the influence of myths, these being claims to timeless and incontrovertible truths - in essence, universals....
- Secondly, are the universals of human nature claimed by academic psychology more accurately seen as Western or Euroamerican patterns?
- Conceptualists hold that universals are mental constructions and traditional nominalists hold that either universals are linguistic constructions or they do not exist at all.
1.4 Linguistics A universal grammatical rule or linguistic feature.And I suspect that it's a linguistic universal for farm animals, crops and food products to figure in terms of disdain and abuse....
- There are aspects of anaphoric universals which clearly are of a grammatical nature; there are also aspects of anaphoric universals which equally clearly are of a pragmatic nature.
- Because of this, the sentence as understood in the Western linguistic tradition has not yet been unequivocally established as a universal of language.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French, or from Latin universalis, from universus (see universe).
Rhymes
Universal2
/juːnɪˈvəːs(ə)l/A US film production company formed in 1912.