Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language 1. (a.) 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. 2. (a.) Constituting or considered as a whole; total; entire; whole; as, the universal world. 3. (a.) Adapted or adaptable to all or to various uses, shapes, sizes, etc.; as, a universal milling machine. 4. (a.) 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. 5. (n.) The whole; the general system of the universe; the universe. 6. (n.) A general abstract conception, so called from being universally applicable to, or predicable of, each individual or species contained under it. 7. (n.) A universal proposition. See Universal, a., 4.
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