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Universal   /jˌunəvˈərsəl/   Listen
adjective
Universal  adj.  
1.
Of or pertaining to the universe; extending to, including, or affecting, the whole number, quantity, or space; unlimited; general; all-reaching; all-pervading; as, universal ruin; universal good; universal benevolence or benefice. "Anointed universal King." "The universal cause Acts not by partial, but by general laws." "This universal frame began." Note: Universal and its derivatives are used in common discourse for general and its derivatives. See General.
2.
Constituting or considered as a whole; total; entire; whole; as, the universal world. "At which the universal host up dent A shout that tore Hell's concave."
3.
(Mech.) Adapted or adaptable to all or to various uses, shapes, sizes, etc.; as, a universal milling machine.
4.
(Logic) Forming the whole of a genus; relatively unlimited in extension; affirmed or denied of the whole of a subject; as, a universal proposition; opposed to particular; e. g. (universal affirmative) All men are animals; (universal negative) No men are omniscient.
Universal chuck (Mach.), a chuck, as for a lathe, having jaws which can be moved simultaneously so as to grasp objects of various sizes.
Universal church, the whole church of God in the world; the catholic church. See the Note under Catholic, a., 1.
Universal coupling. (Mach.) Same as Universal joint, below.
Universal dial, a dial by which the hour may be found in any part of the world, or under any elevation of the pole.
Universal instrument (Astron.), a species of altitude and azimuth instrument, the peculiarity of which is, that the object end of the telescope is placed at right angles to the eye end, with a prism of total reflection at the angle, and the eye end constitutes a portion of the horizontal axis of the instrument, having the eyepiece at the pivot and in the center of the altitude circle, so that the eye has convenient access to both at the same time.
Universal joint (Mach.), a contrivance used for joining two shafts or parts of a machine endwise, so that the one may give rotary motion to the other when forming an angle with it, or may move freely in all directions with respect to the other, as by means of a cross connecting the forked ends of the two shafts (Fig. 1). Since this joint can not act when the angle of the shafts is less than 140°, a double joint of the same kind is sometimes used for giving rotary motion at angles less than 140° (Fig. 2).
Universal umbel (Bot.), a primary or general umbel; the first or largest set of rays in a compound umbel; opposed to partial umbel. A universal involucre is not unfrequently placed at the foot of a universal umbel.
Synonyms: General; all; whole; total. See General.


noun
Universal  n.  
1.
The whole; the general system of the universe; the universe. (Obs.) "Plato calleth God the cause and original, the nature and reason, of the universal."
2.
(Logic)
(a)
A general abstract conception, so called from being universally applicable to, or predicable of, each individual or species contained under it.
(b)
A universal proposition. See Universal, a., 4.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Universal" Quotes from Famous Books



... so, Major Kennedy, but both our civil and military systems are rotten to the core. There are, of course, honest men in both services, but as a rule corruption is almost universal. Still, although he cannot fear me as he must fear you, it is possible he may endeavour to make himself safe by removing me also from his path; and for a time I shall take good care to remain in my own barracks, ...
— In the Irish Brigade - A Tale of War in Flanders and Spain • G. A. Henty
... houses were admirably suited to company billets. Occupiers dismantled the ground floor front and took in three, and generally four men at various rates. On the 2nd of October a universal rate of 9d. a day each man was fixed. That made twenty-one shillings a week towards paying off a rent which would average at the most twelve shillings. The billets delighted us, and we hope the owners were as pleased. We thank them ...
— The Fifth Leicestershire - A Record Of The 1/5th Battalion The Leicestershire Regiment, - T.F., During The War, 1914-1919. • J.D. Hills
... man; in others there was a striking regularity. The typical holding, the group of scattered acres cultivated by one man or held by some two or three in common, was known as a "virgate," or by some equivalent term, and although of no universal equality, was more frequently of thirty acres than of any other number. Usually one finds on a given manor that ten or fifteen of the villagers have each a virgate of a given number of acres, several more have each a half virgate or a quarter. Occasionally, ...
— An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England • Edward Potts Cheyney
... is a busy one, the never finished grinding of corn by the use of the primitive metate and mano taking much time, and the universal woman's task of bearing and rearing children and providing meals and home comforts accounting for most of ...
— The Unwritten Literature of the Hopi • Hattie Greene Lockett
... concerned, correspond very closely in final results with those in the Hemiptera heteroptera and the Orthoptera. In minor details these chromosomes are less peculiar in the Coleoptera than in either of the other orders. Even condensation during the growth stage is not universal, and synapsis of the heterochromosomes apparently occurs simultaneously with that of the ordinary chromosomes, instead of being delayed, as in many of ...
— Studies in Spermatogenesis - Part II • Nettie Maria Stevens


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