1. Of or pertaining to utility; consisting in utility; &?;iming at
utility as distinguished from beauty, ornament, etc.; sometimes,
reproachfully, evincing, or characterized by, a regard for utility of a
lower kind, or marked by a sordid spirit; as, utilitarian narrowness; a
utilitarian indifference to art.
2. Of or pertaining to utilitarianism; supporting utilitarianism; as,
the utilitarian view of morality; the Utilitarian Society. J. S. Mill.
U*til`i*ta"ri*an (?), n. One who holds the doctrine of utilitarianism.
The utilitarians are for merging all the particular virtues into one,
and would substitute in their place the greatest usefulness, as the
alone principle to which every question respecting the morality of
actions should be referred.
Chalmers.
But what is a utilitarian? Simply one who prefers the useful to the
useless; and who does not?
Sir W. Hamilton.
U*til`i*ta"ri*an*ism (?), n. 1. The doctrine that the greatest
happiness of the greatest number should be the end and aim of all
social and political institutions. Bentham.
2. The doctrine that virtue is founded in utility, or that virtue is
defined and enforced by its tendency to promote the highest happiness
of the universe. J. S. Mill.
3. The doctrine that utility is the sole standard of morality, so that
the rectitude of an action is determined by its usefulness.
U*til"i*ty (?), n. [OE. utilite, F. utilité, L. utilitas, fr. utilis
useful. See Utile.]
1. The quality or state of being useful; usefulness; production of
good; profitableness to some valuable end; as, the utility of manure
upon land; the utility of the sciences; the utility of medicines.
The utility of the enterprises was, however, so great and obvious that
all opposition proved useless.
Macaulay.
2. (Polit. Econ.) Adaptation to satisfy the desires or wants; intrinsic
value. See Note under Value, 2.
Value in use is utility, and nothing else, and in political economy
should be called by that name and no other.
F. A. Walker.
3. Happiness; the greatest good, or happiness, of the greatest number,
— the foundation of utilitarianism. J. S. Mill.
Syn. — Usefulness; advantageous; benefit; profit; avail; service. —
Utility, Usefulness. Usefulness has an Anglo-Saxon prefix, utility is
Latin; and hence the former is used chiefly of things in the concrete,
while the latter is employed more in a general and abstract sense.
Thus, we speak of the utility of an invention, and the usefulness of
the thing invented; of the utility of an institution, and the
usefulness of an individual. So beauty and utility (not usefulness) are
brought into comparison. Still, the words are often used
interchangeably.
U"til*i`za*ble (?), a. Capable of being utilized; as, the utilizable
products of the gas works.
U`til*i*za"tion (?), n. [Cf. F. utilization.] The act of utilizing, or
the state of being utilized.
U"til*ize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Utilized (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Utilizing (?).] [Cf. F. utiliser.] To make useful; to turn to
profitable account or use; to make use of; as, to utilize the whole
power of a machine; to utilize one's opportunities.
In former ages, the mile-long corridors, with their numerous alcoves,
might have been utilized as . . . dungeons.
Hawthorne.
||U`ti pos`si*de"tis (?). [L., as you possess.]
||
1. (Internat. Law) The basis or principle of a treaty which leaves
belligerents mutually in possession of what they have acquired by their
arms during the war. Brande & C.
2. (Roman Law) A species of interdict granted to one who was in
possession of an immovable thing, in order that he might be declared
the legal possessor. Burrill.