universe

B1 Topic:Astronomy & Space

US /ˈjuːnəˌvɝs/ UK /ˈjuːnɪˌvɜːs/ See IPA manual

Freq #1614

Meanings

1

noun
Everything that exists, including all of space, time, and matter.

Powerful telescopes look far back into the distant reaches of the universe.
2

noun
The complete imaginary world in which a story takes place.

The universe in this comic book series is richly imagined.
3

noun
A person's whole world or way of seeing things.

That didn't just rock my world, it rocked my universe.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · everything that exists,... creation cosmos

Word family

Forms universes

Derived forms antiuniverseaxiverseconnversefediversein-universeinfiniverseinteruniverseintrauniversejewniverselumpiversemacroversemaniverse

Related forms omuniversal university

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

closed universe
a cosmological model in which the universe has closed spatial geometry

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice

Simplified etymology

Universe came through French from Latin universum, “the whole” or “the sum of existing things.” This was derived from universus, “entire” or “complete,” formed from uni-, “one,” and versus, the past participle of vertere, “to turn.”

Etymology

From Middle English universe, from Old French univers, from Latin universum (“all things, as a whole, the universe”), neuter of universus (“all together, whole, entire, collective, general, literally turned or combined into one”), from uni-, combining form of unus (“one”) + versus (“turned”), perfect passive participle of vertō (“to turn”). Analyzable as uni- + -verse through backformation of -verse.

universe Middle English univers Old French universum Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Astronomy & Space General Vocabulary

External links

# universe

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈjuːnəˌvɝs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈjuːnɪˌvɜːs/
**Frequency rank:** 1614

## Meanings
1. Everything that exists, including all of space, time, and matter.
2. The complete imaginary world in which a story takes place.
3. A person's whole world or way of seeing things.

## Examples
- Powerful telescopes look far back into the distant reaches of the universe.
- The universe in this comic book series is richly imagined.
- That didn't just rock my world, it rocked my universe.

## Derived Forms
- antiuniverse
- axiverse
- connverse
- fediverse
- in-universe
- infiniverse
- interuniverse
- intrauniverse
- jewniverse
- lumpiverse
- macroverse
- maniverse

## Related Forms
- om
- universal
- university

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: universe
- Root: univers
- Root: universum
- Affix: uni- - one

## Etymology
From Middle English universe, from Old French univers, from Latin universum (“all things, as a whole, the universe”), neuter of universus (“all together, whole, entire, collective, general, literally turned or combined into one”), from uni-, combining form of unus (“one”) + versus (“turned”), perfect passive participle of vertō (“to turn”). Analyzable as uni- + -verse through backformation of -verse.

## AI Etymology
Universe is from Middle English universe, from Old French univers, from Latin universum (“all things, as a whole, the universe”), neuter of universus (“all together, whole, entire, collective, general, literally turned or combined into one”), from uni-, combining form of unus (“one”) + versus (“turned”), perfect passive participle of vertō (“to turn”). Analyzable as uni- + -verse through backformation of -verse. In present-day use, it can mean everything that exists, including all of space, time, and matter, or the complete imaginary world in which a story takes place.

## Topics
- Astronomy & Space
- General Vocabulary

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