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Origin and history of universal

universal(adj.)

late 14c., "pertaining to or characteristic of the whole of something specified; occurring everywhere, affecting the whole world or cosmos," from Old French universel "general, universal" (12c.) and directly from Latin universalis "of or belonging to all," from universus "all together, whole, entire" (see universe).

As a noun in logic and philosophy, "an abstraction generalized from particulars," late 14c. In mechanics, a universal joint (1670s) is one which allows free movement in any direction. Related: Universality. The universal product code is recorded from 1974.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to universal

universe(n.)

1580s, "the whole world, the cosmos, the totality of existing things," from Old French univers (12c.), from Latin universum "all things, everybody, all people, the whole world," noun use of neuter of adjective universus "all together, all in one, whole, entire, relating to all."

This is, etymologically, "turned into one," from unus "one" (from PIE root *oi-no- "one, unique") + past participle of vertere "to turn, turn back, be turned; convert, transform, translate; be changed" (from PIE root *wer- (2) "to turn, bend").

Chaucer used it, perhaps from Italian universo in Boccaccio, of the gods in "Troilus and Criseyde:"

Ye folk a lawe han set in universe;
And this knowe I by hem that lovers be,
That whoso stryveth with yow hath the werse.
universalism(n.)

1805 in theology, "the doctrine of universal salvation," from universal (adj.) + -ism. See universalist. It also has been used in a sense of "fact or quality of being interested in almost everything" (1827).

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Trends of universal

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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particular
late 14c., "pertaining to or affecting a single thing or person; pertaining to some and not to all," from Old French particuler (14c., Modern French particulier) and directly from Late Latin particularis "of a part, concerning a small part," from Latin particula "little bit or pa
cosmopolitan
1815, "free from local, provincial, or national prejudices and attachments," from cosmopolite "citizen of the world" (q.v.) on model of metropolitan. From 1833 as "belonging to all parts of the world, limited to no place or society." Meaning "composed of people of all nations, mu
ecumenical
late 16c., "representing the entire (Christian) world," formed in English as an ecclesiastical word, from Late Latin oecumenicus "general, universal," from Greek oikoumenikos "from the whole world," from he oikoumene ge "the inhabited world (as known to the ancient Greeks); the G
perpetual
14c., "uninterrupted, continuous," from Old French perpetuel "without end" (12c.) and directly from Latin perpetualis "universal...," in Medieval Latin "permanent," from perpetuus "continuous, universal," from perpetis, genitive of Old Latin perpes "lasting...
catholic
(before the East/West schism), literally "universally accepted," from French catholique, from Church Latin catholicus "universal...The general sense of "embracing all, universal" in English is from 1550s....
monad
In Leibnitz's philosophy, "an ultimate unit of being, a unit of the universal substance" (1748); he apparently adopted the...
waterlogged
1759 (in an account of the Battle of Lagos in "Universal Magazine," September), from water (n.1) + log (n.1); the notion...[William Falconer, "An Universal Dictionary of the Marine," London, 1784] The verb waterlog (1779) appears to be a back-formation...
pattern
a Modern English variant of patron, retaining its other old sense of "outline, plan, model, an original proposed for imitation," from Old French patron "patron, protector; model, pattern." The difference in form and sense between English patron and pattern wasn't firm before 1700
proposition
mid-14c., proposicioun, "a riddle" (a sense now obsolete); late 14c., in rhetoric, "a setting forth as a topic for discussion or discourse," from Old French proposicion "proposal, submission, (philosophical) proposition" (12c.), from Latin propositionem (nominative propositio) "a
general
c. 1200, "of wide application, generic, affecting or involving all" (as opposed to special or specific), from Old French general (12c.) and directly from Latin generalis "relating to all, of a whole class, generic" (contrasted with specialis), from genus (genitive generis) "stock

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