Universal

How to spell universal

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce universal

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does universal mean?

1. adjectiveApplying to or affecting all people, cases, or things without exception.

Universal in a sentence

• The company adopted a universal policy for all branches.

Where does universal come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin universalis, meaning 'belonging to all' or 'relating to the whole', which was built on universus, literally 'turned into one' or 'combined into a single whole'. That root combines unus, meaning 'one', with versus, the past participle of vertere, 'to turn', so the underlying image is of many things turned together into one. English took it up in the late fourteenth century, by way of Old French universel, first in scholarly and theological writing about things true for everyone. The same uni- and vertere elements turn up in a whole family of relatives such as 'universe', 'version', and 'reverse'. Remembering that hidden 'turning into one' helps explain both the spelling and the meaning of something that applies to all.

How the word is built

• uni- (one)
• vers (from vertere: to turn)
• -al (adjective suffix)