utility

n., pl., -ties.

1. The quality or condition of being useful; usefulness: "I have always doubted the utility of these conferences on disarmament" (Winston S. Churchill).
2. A useful article or device.
3. 1. A public utility.
   2. A commodity or service, such as electricity, water, or public transportation, that is provided by a public utility.
4. Computer Science. A utility program.

adj.

1. Used, serving, or working in several capacities as needed, especially:
   1. Prepared to play any of the smaller theatrical roles on short notice: a utility cast member.
   2. Capable of playing as a substitute in any of several positions: a utility infielder.
2. Designed for various often heavy-duty practical uses: a utility knife; a utility vehicle.
3. Raised or kept for the production of a farm product rather than for show or as pets: utility livestock.
4. Of the lowest U.S. Government grade: utility beef.

[Middle English utilite, from Old French, from Latin ūtilitās, from ūtilis, useful, from ūtī, to use.]

A function that takes a numerical value for each possible state of a system (usually an economic system) and is intended as a measure of the benefit or usefulness of that state.

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1. services, such as water, sewer, gas, electricity, and telephones, that are generally required to operate a building.

2. The periodic charges for such services.
Example: The building will be ready for occupancy as soon as the utilities are connected. When available, the utility bill is expected to average $100 per month. All utilities are paid for by the Landlord.

noun

The quality of being suitable or adaptable to an end: account, advantage, avail, benefit, profit, use, usefulness. See used/unused.

The satisfaction given to an individual by the goods and services used.

The word has moved gradually from its general sense of ‘usefulness’ to its specific meanings in social science. The first philosopher to use it in the sense of the ability of something to satisfy wishes was Hume, and this usage was systematized by the nineteenth-century utilitarians. The cognate meaning in economics, that which leads someone to choose one thing over another, is traced by the Oxford English Dictionary to 1881, but the concept is far older. In particular, the idea that maximizing one's utility could not be the same thing as maximizing one's income was proved by Daniel Bernoulli in 1738. If they were the same, then anybody offered the opportunity to play the following game would rationally be prepared to pay all the money in the world to play it: A fair coin is tossed repeatedly until it lands for the first time on a head, when the game ends; your prize is two ducats if the coin comes down ‘heads’ on the first throw, four if the first head is on the second throw, eight if on the third throw, and so on. The expected value of this game is infinite, but as Bernoulli observed, nobody would be prepared to pay more than about twenty ducats to play it. This has become known as the ‘St Petersburg paradox’, which Bernoulli resolved by suggesting that the more money we already have, the less we want an extra ducat. This would now be labelled diminishing marginal utility for money.

Therefore when used as a technical term utility has no normative connotations. Utility furniture may be contrasted with beautiful furniture, but maximizing utility is the same as maximizing beauty if beauty is what the subject wants to maximize.

The basic unit of desirability in much decision theory, game theory, and economics. The difficulty is being sure that it refers to anything sufficiently definite to work with. This requires, for instance, that at least some comparisons of utility across different times and different people is possible. Stronger assumptions may require that utilities can be ordered in various scales, or summed and manipulated arithmetically (see felicific calculus; measurement, philosophy of). This may seem to involve a wild idealization, since although we might judge that this year's holiday was better than last year's, we are not apt to think it makes sense to say it was twice as good, or that it generated half as many units of utility as (say) a lifetime's consumption of chocolate. Cautious work instead uses orderings of preferences: an outcome A has greater utility than outcome B (for subject x) if and only if x prefers A to B. Preferences are in turn revealed in actual or idealized choices, thus allowing the concept some behavioural and scientific respectability. Again, however, most traditions of ethical thought recognize more valuable and worthwhile goals to life than simply satisfying an arbitrary sequence of preferences.

(WWII to Vietnam) The Marine fighting and field uniform. During Vietnam the Jungle Utilities (the Army called them fatigues) were introduced and eventually became "cammies" which replaced utilities.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - redskab, anvendelighed, nytte
adj. - anvendelighed

idioms:

• utility programme    nytteprogram; computerprogram
• utility room    bryggers
• utility truck    varevogn, kassebil
• utility vehicle    universalkøretøj

Nederlands (Dutch)
bruikbaarheid, nut, voorziening

Français (French)
n. - utilité, service public, commodité, (US) factures (npl)
adj. - tous usages (un véhicule), polyvalent, (Agric) d'exploitation

idioms:

• utility programme    (Comput) programme utilitaire
• utility room    buanderie
• utility truck    camion utilitaire
• utility vehicle    véhicule utilitaire

Deutsch (German)
n. - Nutzen, öffentlicher Versorgungsbetrieb, (Wirtsch.) Zweckmäßigkeit, (Philos.) Nützlichkeit (Utilitarismus), (Plur.) öffentliche Wertpapiere
adj. - Gebrauchs...

idioms:

• utility programme    (Comp.) Dienstprogramm
• utility room    Raum, in dem größere Haushaltsgeräte installiert sind
• utility truck    Vielzweckfahrzeug
• utility vehicle    Vielzweckfahrzeug

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - χρησιμότητα, ωφελιμότητα, ωφέλεια, ευχρηστία, χρήσιμο πράγμα, επιχείρηση ή οργανισμός κοινής ωφέλειας, δημόσια υπηρεσία, (πληθ.) χρειώδη, (Η/Υ) βοηθητικό πρόγραμμα

idioms:

• utility programme    (Η/Υ) βοηθητικό πρόγραμμα, πρόγραμμα για εργασίες ρουτίνας
• utility room    βοηθητικός χώρος σπιτιού
• utility truck    μικρό φορτηγό αυτοκίνητο με ανοιχτή καρότσα
• utility vehicle    μικρό φορτηγό αυτοκίνητο με ανοιχτή καρότσα

Italiano (Italian)
strumento, utilità

idioms:

• utility programme    programma di servizio
• utility room    sgabuzzino
• utility vehicle/truck    camioncino

Português (Portuguese)
n. - utilidade (f), vantagem (f), serviços (m pl) (gás, eletricidade, etc.)

idioms:

• utility programme    programa para facilitar operações (Comp.)
• utility room    sala de lavadora/secadora, aquecedor de água, etc.
• utility vehicle/truck    veículo utilitário carga/passageiros

Русский (Russian)
полезность, практичность, общественная полезность, утилита- -компьютерная программа для выполнения повтор. функции, коммунальные услуги, коммунальные предприятия, акции предприятий общественного пользования, вспомогательный, выгодный, дешевый, утилитарный

idioms:

• utility programme    сервисная программа
• utility room    бытовая комната
• utility vehicle/truck    транспортное средство многоцелевого назначения

Español (Spanish)
n. - utilidad, conveniencia, provecho
adj. - de uso práctico, de calidad corriente, suplente

idioms:

• utility programme    programa de utilidad
• utility room    lavadero, trastero
• utility truck    furgoneta, camioneta, camión
• utility vehicle    furgoneta, camioneta

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - nytta, användbarhet

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
公用程序, 实用, 实用品, 实用的, 有多种用途的

idioms:

• utility programme    实用程序
• utility room    家庭用具室
• utility truck    多用途卡车
• utility vehicle    多用途车辆, 轻型箱式越野车辆, 轻型经济实用车辆

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 公用程式, 實用, 實用品
adj. - 實用的, 有多種用途的

idioms:

• utility programme    實用程式
• utility room    家庭用具室
• utility truck    多用途卡車
• utility vehicle    多用途車輛, 輕型箱式越野車輛, 輕型經濟實用車輛

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 유용 , 유익한 것, 공익 사업
adj. - 유용한, 실용적인, 여러 용도로 쓰이는

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 役に立つこと, 役に立つ物, 公益事業, 有用性, 効用

idioms:

• utility programme    公共事業計画
• utility room    ユーティリティールーム
• utility vehicle/truck    多用途車

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) نفع, فائدة‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮תועלת, רווחיות, דבר מועיל, תועלתיות, שימושיות, שירות, שירות ציבורי (מים), תוכנת-שירות (מחשב)‬
adj. - ‮מעשי מאד ולפי תקן אחיד, רב-שימושי, עוצב למען התועלת ולא למען היופי‬

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Utility Trailer	Sport Utility
Utility Sink	Utility Cart