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universal

In metaphysics, epistemology, and logic, a general category, such as a property or relation, considered as distinct from the particular things that instantiate or exemplify it. The problem of universals concerns the question of what sort of being should be ascribed to such categories (e.g., is there any such thing as redness apart from particular red things?). The debate over the status of universals stems from Plato's theory of forms. Whereas Plato held that forms (universals) exist independently of particulars, Aristotle argued that forms exist only in the particulars in which they are exemplified. See also realism.

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universal

1. Machinery designed or adapted for a range of sizes, fittings, or uses

2. Logic (of a statement or proposition) affirming or denying something about every member of a class, as in all men are wicked

3. Philosophy

a. a general term or concept or the type such a term signifies

b. a metaphysical entity taken to be the reference of a general term, as distinct from the class of individuals it describes

c. a Platonic Idea or Aristotelian form

4. Logic

a. a universal proposition, statement, or formula

b. a universal quantifier

5. short for universal joint