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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Utility \U*til"i*ty\, n. [OE. utilite, F. utilit['e], L.
utilitas, fr. utilis useful. See {Utile}.]
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1. The quality or state of being useful; usefulness;
production of good; profitableness to some valuable end;
as, the utility of manure upon land; the utility of the
sciences; the utility of medicines.
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The utility of the enterprises was, however, so
great and obvious that all opposition proved
useless. --Macaulay.
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2. (Polit. Econ.) Adaptation to satisfy the desires or wants;
intrinsic value. See Note under {Value}, 2.
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Value in use is utility, and nothing else, and in
political economy should be called by that name and
no other. --F. A.
Walker.
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3. Happiness; the greatest good, or happiness, of the
greatest number, -- the foundation of utilitarianism. --J.
S. Mill.
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Syn: Usefulness; advantageous; benefit; profit; avail;
service.

Usage: {Utility}, {Usefulness}. Usefulness has an Anglo-Saxon
prefix, utility is Latin; and hence the former is used
chiefly of things in the concrete, while the latter is
employed more in a general and abstract sense. Thus,
we speak of the utility of an invention, and the
usefulness of the thing invented; of the utility of an
institution, and the usefulness of an individual. So
beauty and utility (not usefulness) are brought into
comparison. Still, the words are often used
interchangeably.
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