n. [ NL. ] (Zool.) Any species of large West Indian rodents of the genus Capromys, or Utia. In general appearance and habits they resemble rats, but they are as large as rabbits. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ So called from Utica, in New York. ] (Geol.) Of, pertaining to, or designating, a subdivision of the Trenton Period of the Lower Silurian, characterized in the State of New York by beds of shale. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. utilis, fr. uti to use: cf. F. utile. See Use, v. t. ] Profitable; useful. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Utility. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Of or pertaining to utility; consisting in utility; &unr_;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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to utilitarianism; supporting utilitarianism; as, the utilitarian view of morality; the Utilitarian Society. J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who holds the doctrine of utilitarianism. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

But what is a utilitarian? Simply one who prefers the useful to the useless; and who does not? Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The doctrine that utility is the sole standard of morality, so that the rectitude of an action is determined by its usefulness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. utilite, F. utilité, L. utilitas, fr. utilis useful. See Utile. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The utility of the enterprises was, however, so great and obvious that all opposition proved useless. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Polit. Econ.) Adaptation to satisfy the desires or wants; intrinsic value. See Note under Value, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

Value in use is utility, and nothing else, and in political economy should be called by that name and no other. F. A. Walker. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Happiness; the greatest good, or happiness, of the greatest number, -- the foundation of utilitarianism. J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being utilized; as, the utilizable products of the gas works. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. utilization. ] The act of utilizing, or the state of being utilized. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

In former ages, the mile-long corridors, with their numerous alcoves, might have been utilized as . . . dungeons. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]