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say it: yoo-nuh-VUR-suhl
universal is a noun and adjective meaning "(linguistics) a grammatical rule (or other linguistic feature) that is found in all languages". It is pronounced /ˌjunəˈvɝsəl/ — yoo-nuh-VUR-suhl. It carries 7 recorded senses.
(linguistics) a grammatical rule (or other linguistic feature) that is found in all languages
linguistics
(logic) a proposition that asserts something of all members of a class
logic
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”
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”
of worldwide scope or applicability
“an issue of cosmopolitan import”
“the shrewdest political and ecumenical comment of our time”
“universal experience”
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”
adapted to various purposes, sizes, forms, operations
“universal wrench”
“universal chuck”
“universal screwdriver”
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for universal come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.