## Meanings
1. A basic public service such as electricity, gas, or water supplied to homes and businesses.
2. The quality of being useful or practical.
3. A small computer program that helps run or maintain a system.

## Examples
- Our rent includes all utilities like water and electricity.
- Engineers questioned the utility of the expensive new design.
- She downloaded a utility to clean up her hard drive.

## Synonyms
- usefulness
- value

## Antonyms
- disutility
- inutility

## Derived Forms
- beautility
- multiutility
- utilitarian

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: utilite
- Root: ūtilitās

## Etymology
From Middle English utilite, from Old French utilite, utilitet (“usefulness”), from Latin ūtilitās, from uti (“to use”). By surface analysis, utile + -ity.

## AI Etymology
Utility is from Middle English utilite, from Old French utilite, utilitet (“usefulness”), from Latin ūtilitās, from uti (“to use”). By surface analysis, utile + -ity. The historical line also includes Middle English utilite, Old French utilite, Latin ūtilitās. In present-day use, it can mean a basic public service such as electricity, gas, or water supplied to homes and businesses, or the quality of being useful or practical. Derived formations include beautility, multiutility, utilitarian.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Technology & Computing

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utility

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