utility

utility

1. 

a. a public service, such as the bus system; public utility

b. (as modifier): utility vehicle

2. Economics

a. the ability of a commodity to satisfy human wants

b. the amount of such satisfaction

3. Austral and NZ a small truck with an open body and low sides, often with a removable tarpaulin cover; pick-up

4. a piece of computer software designed for a routine task, such as examining or copying files

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

utility

(ECONOMICS) the satisfaction or pleasure that a person derives from the consumption of a good or service. In the work of CLASSICAL ECONOMISTS, it was assumed that utility might be measured on an absolute scale. In modern economics, the assumption is merely that individuals are at least able to rank the satisfactions they receive or expect to receive. It is on this basis that conceptions and forms of analysis central in modern economics, e.g. indifference curves, conceptions of marginal utility, are formulated (see NEOCLASSICAL ECONOMICS).

Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2000

utility

[yü′til·əd·ē]

(engineering)

One of the nonprocess (support) facilities for a manufacturing plant; usually considered as facilities for steam, cooling water, deionized water, electric power, refrigeration, compressed and instrument air, and effluent treatment.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

public utility

A public service such as water, gas, electricity, telephone, sewers, etc.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

utility

(1) See utility program.

(2) Usefulness; fitness for a particular use. Utility is one of the six fundamental components of information security (see Parkerian Hexad). For example, if data are encrypted and the decryption key is unavailable, the breach of security is in the lack of utility of the data (they are still confidential, possessed, integral, authentic and available).

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