\U*til"i*ty\, n. [OE. utilite, F. utilit['e], L.
utilitas, fr. utilis useful. See {Utile}.]
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.
         The utility of the enterprises was, however, so
         great and obvious that all opposition proved
         useless.                              --Macaulay.
2. (Polit. Econ.) Adaptation to satisfy the desires or wants;
   intrinsic value. See Note under {Value}, 2.
         Value in use is utility, and nothing else, and in
         political economy should be called by that name and
         no other.                             --F. A.
                                               Walker.
3. Happiness; the greatest good, or happiness, of the
   greatest number, -- the foundation of utilitarianism. --J.
   S. Mill.
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.