utile

English

Etymology

From Middle French utile, from Old French utele, from Latin ūtilis.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈjuː.taɪl/
• Rhymes: -uːtaɪl

Adjective

utile (comparative more utile, superlative most utile)

1. (now rare) Useful.

   Antonyms: inutile (obsolete), see more at unuseful

   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin, published 2011, page 16:

     technologists (the so-called Eggheads) all over the world were trying to make publicly utile and commercially rewarding the extremely elaborate and still very expensive, hydrodynamic telephones and other miserable gadgets […]

Noun

utile (plural utiles)

1. (economics) A theoretical unit of measure of utility, for indicating a supposed quantity of satisfaction derived from an economic transaction.
   • 2002, Louis Groarke, The Good Rebel: Understanding Freedom and Morality, →ISBN, page 29:

     Rational agents always maximize the number of utiles procured; that is, they will always choose those outcomes which promise to produce the most utiles.

   • 2006, "Economic Roundup Autumn 2006," www.treasury.gov.au (Australian Government Treasury) (retrieved 20 Oct 2013):

     [T]he ‘happiness utile’ does not exist, at least not yet.

Synonyms

• (unit of satisfaction): hedon, util

Related terms

• utility

Anagrams

• Lieut, Lieut., tuile

Esperanto

Etymology

utila +‎ -e

Adverb

utile

1. usefully

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French utile, borrowed from Latin ūtilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /y.til/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -il

Adjective

utile (plural utiles)

1. useful

   Antonym: inutile

Derived terms

• à toutes fins utiles
• charge utile
• en temps utile
• joindre l’utile à l’agréable

 

Related terms

• outil

Further reading

• “utile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• tuile

Italian

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Latin ūtilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈu.ti.le/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -utile
• Hyphenation: ù‧ti‧le

Adjective

utile (plural utili, superlative utilissimo)

1. useful

   Synonym: utilizzabile

   Antonym: inutile

Related terms

• usare
• utilità
• utilitario
• utilizzare
• utilmente

Further reading

• utile in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• ulite

Latin

Adjective

ūtile

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of ūtilis

Adverb

ūtile (comparative ūtilius, superlative ūtillimē)

1. usefully

   Synonym: ūtiliter

Middle French

Alternative forms

• util (masculine only)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin utilis.

Adjective

utile m or f (plural utiles)

1. useful

Antonyms

• inutile

Descendants

• French: utile

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uˈtile/

Adjective

utile

1. nominative/accusative feminine/neuter plural of util