Search Result for "universal": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (4)

1. (linguistics) a grammatical rule (or other linguistic feature) that is found in all languages;
[syn: universal, linguistic universal]

2. (logic) a proposition that asserts something of all members of a class;
[syn: universal, universal proposition]

3. a behavioral convention or pattern characteristic of all members of a particular culture or of all human beings;
- Example: "some form of religion seems to be a human universal"

4. coupling that connects two rotating shafts allowing freedom of movement in all directions;
- Example: "in motor vehicles a universal joint allows the driveshaft to move up and down as the vehicle passes over bumps"
[syn: universal joint, universal]


ADJECTIVE (3)

1. of worldwide scope or applicability;
- Example: "an issue of cosmopolitan import"
- Example: "the shrewdest political and ecumenical comment of our time"- Christopher Morley
- Example: "universal experience"
[syn: cosmopolitan, ecumenical, oecumenical, general, universal, worldwide, world-wide]

2. applicable to or common to all members of a group or set;
- Example: "the play opened to universal acclaim"
- Example: "rap enjoys universal appeal among teenage boys"

3. adapted to various purposes, sizes, forms, operations;
- Example: "universal wrench", "universal chuck"
- Example: "universal screwdriver"


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Universal \U`ni*ver"sal\, n. 1. The whole; the general system of the universe; the universe. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] Plato calleth God the cause and original, the nature and reason, of the universal. --Sir W. Raleigh. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Universal \U`ni*ver"sal\, a. [L. universalis: cf. F. universel, OF. also universal. See Universe.] 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." --Milton. [1913 Webster] The universal cause Acts not by partial, but by general laws. --Pope. [1913 Webster] This universal frame began. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] Note: Universal and its derivatives are used in common discourse for general and its derivatives. See General. [1913 Webster] 2. Constituting or considered as a whole; total; entire; whole; as, the universal world. --Shak. [1913 Webster] At which the universal host up dent A shout that tore Hell's concave. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 3. (Mech.) Adapted or adaptable to all or to various uses, shapes, sizes, etc.; as, a universal milling machine. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] 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[deg], a double joint of the same kind is sometimes used for giving rotary motion at angles less than 140[deg] (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. [1913 Webster] Syn: General; all; whole; total. See General. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

universal adj 1: of worldwide scope or applicability; "an issue of cosmopolitan import"; "the shrewdest political and ecumenical comment of our time"- Christopher Morley; "universal experience" [syn: cosmopolitan, ecumenical, oecumenical, general, universal, worldwide, world-wide] 2: applicable to or common to all members of a group or set; "the play opened to universal acclaim"; "rap enjoys universal appeal among teenage boys" 3: adapted to various purposes, sizes, forms, operations; "universal wrench", "universal chuck"; "universal screwdriver" n 1: (linguistics) a grammatical rule (or other linguistic feature) that is found in all languages [syn: universal, linguistic universal] 2: (logic) a proposition that asserts something of all members of a class [syn: universal, universal proposition] [ant: particular, particular proposition] 3: a behavioral convention or pattern characteristic of all members of a particular culture or of all human beings; "some form of religion seems to be a human universal" 4: coupling that connects two rotating shafts allowing freedom of movement in all directions; "in motor vehicles a universal joint allows the driveshaft to move up and down as the vehicle passes over bumps" [syn: universal joint, universal]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

220 Moby Thesaurus words for "universal": Berkeleianism, Geistesgeschichte, Hegelian idea, Hegelianism, Kantian idea, Kantianism, Neoplatonism, Platonic form, Platonic idea, Platonism, absolute, absolute idealism, accustomed, across-the-board, aggregate, all, all-comprehending, all-comprehensive, all-covering, all-embracing, all-encompassing, all-filling, all-including, all-inclusive, all-out, all-pervading, allover, animatism, animism, archetype, average, blanket, born, boundless, broad, broad-based, catholic, clean, clear, common, commonplace, compendious, complete, complex idea, comprehensive, congenital, consummate, conventional, cosmic, cosmogonal, cosmogonic, cosmologic, cosmopolitan, countless, country-wide, current, customary, deep-dyed, downright, dyed-in-the-wool, ecumenic, ecumenical, egregious, encyclopedic, endless, entire, epidemic, eternal, eternal object, eternal universal, everyday, exemplar, exhaustive, exhaustless, extending everywhere, extensive, familiar, form, formal cause, galactic, general, generic, global, gross, habitual, heaven-wide, highest category, history of ideas, holistic, household, hylozoism, ideal, idealism, ideate, ideatum, idee-force, illimitable, illimited, immaterialism, immeasurable, immense, incalculable, inclusive, incomprehensible, inexhaustible, infinite, infinitely continuous, innate idea, innumerable, integral, integrated, intensive, interminable, interminate, international, limitless, measureless, metaphysical idealism, model, monistic idealism, national, no end of, nondenominational, nonsectarian, noosphere, normative, noumenon, omnibus, omnipresent, one, one and indivisible, ordinary, out-and-out, outright, over-all, pandemic, panoramic, panpsychism, pattern, percept, perfect, perpetual, personalism, pervasive, plain, planetary, plumb, popular, predominating, prescriptive, prevailing, prevalent, prototype, psychism, pure, radical, regular, regulation, regulative first principle, sheer, shoreless, simple idea, solipsism, spiritualism, standard, stock, straight, subjectivism, subsistent form, sumless, sweeping, synoptic, termless, the Absolute, the Absolute Idea, the Self-determined, the realized ideal, thorough, thoroughgoing, through-and-through, total, transcendent idea, transcendent nonempirical concept, transcendent universal, transcendental, ubiquitous, unbounded, uncircumscribed, unconditional, unfathomable, universal concept, universal essence, unlimited, unmeasurable, unmeasured, unmitigated, unnumbered, unplumbed, unqualified, unreserved, unrestricted, untold, usual, utter, veritable, vernacular, whole, wholesale, wide-ranging, widespread, without bound, without end, without exception, without limit, without measure, without number, without omission, wonted, world-wide, worldwide
U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000):

Universal, IN -- U.S. town in Indiana Population (2000): 419 Housing Units (2000): 207 Land area (2000): 0.283589 sq. miles (0.734493 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.283589 sq. miles (0.734493 sq. km) FIPS code: 77912 Located within: Indiana (IN), FIPS 18 Location: 39.621636 N, 87.453043 W ZIP Codes (1990): Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs. Headwords: Universal, IN Universal