universal

Examples

• All

• Now neither the universal nor the individual is emphasized.

  Academic text (1999)

• The universal is the domain of the desirable or possible, the particular of the real or actual.

  Academic text (2002)

• But do humans have a universal human innate grammar?

• The aspiration toward the universal haunts our least pronouncements as much as our grandest dreams, and without it we cease to be human.

  Academic text (1994)

• The mechanism of intelligible species helps Aquinas explain how the act of thinking is related to an abstracted universal while maintaining its individuality.

  Academic text (2017)

• In linguistics, a universal is a rule that is common across all human languages.

• The study of universals helps researchers understand the similarities in grammar worldwide.

• Many linguists believe that certain universals exist in all human communication systems.

Synonyms

L

linguistic universal

vsuniversal

• Specialized

1 7.5

A rule or feature that appears in all human languages

is the shorter term used in linguistics for the same feature

Compounds

U

universal appeal

3 4.1

A quality that attracts many people from different countries and backgrounds

U

universal suffrage

3 5.1

The right of almost all adults to vote in elections

U

universal donor

• Specialized

1 3.8

A person with type O negative blood whose blood can be given to people of any blood type

U

Universal Time

• Specialized

1 4.8

Time at Greenwich, England that countries use as the world time standard

U

universal solvent

1 9.9

An imagined liquid that can dissolve any material

U

universal set

• Specialized

1 7.0

All the things we consider in a math problem, including every smaller group

U

universal joint

• Specialized

1 5.3

A small part that connects two turning shafts at different angles and passes power between them

U

Universal Product Code

• Specialized

1 3.4

A set of black bars and numbers on a product package scanned in stores

C

coordinated universal time

• Specialized

1 4.9

The global time for clocks, based on Greenwich time and adjusted with extra seconds to match Earth's rotation

U

universal proposition

• Specialized

1 8.9

A statement that says something is true for every member of a group

U

universal resource locator

• Texting

1 4.2

A web address you type into a browser to open a page or file

U

universal agent

• Jargon

1 7.7

A person allowed to do all business for someone else

U

universal quantifier

• Specialized

1 9.7

A symbol that shows a statement is true for every member of a group

U

universal gravitational constant

• Specialized

1 8.4

A number that shows how strongly two objects with mass attract each other depending on their distance

L

linguistic universal

• Specialized

1 7.5

A rule or feature that appears in all human languages

U

universal meter

• Archaic

9.9

A former unit of length based on a pendulum that swings once in one second

U

universal gas constant

• Specialized

6.2

A number used in the ideal gas law to link energy, temperature, and amount of gas

U

universal veil

• Specialized

9.9

A thin skin covering a young mushroom that breaks, leaving a cup at the base or patches on the cap

How Widespread

universal

• Specialized

1 7.1

widespread

232 3.6

common

• Informal

23 1.0

monolingual

1 4.3

Surface Forms

Etymology