universe

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Related to universe: Planets, NASA, solar system

u·ni·verse

(yo͞o′nə-vûrs′)

1. All spacetime, matter, and energy, including the solar system, all stars and galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space, regarded as a whole.

2. A hypothetical whole of spacetime, matter, and energy that is purported to exist simultaneously with but to be different from this universe: an alternate universe.

a. A model or conception of the earth and everything else that exists: "Apart from celestial beings, the aboriginals' universe contained spirits of the land and sea" (Madhusree Mukerjee).

b. The human race or a subset of it: "It was a universe that took slavery for granted" (Adam Hochschild).

4. A sphere of interest, activity, or understanding: "their almost hermetically sealed-off universe of part-time jobs and study and improvised meals" (Sue Miller).

5. Logic See universe of discourse.

6. Statistics See population.

[Middle English, from Old French univers, from Latin ūniversum, from neuter of ūniversus, whole : ūnus, one; see oi-no- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + versus, past participle of vertere, to turn; see wer-² in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

universe

(ˈjuːnɪˌvɜːs)

1. (Astronomy) astronomy the aggregate of all existing matter, energy, and space

2. human beings collectively

3. a province or sphere of thought or activity

4. (Statistics) statistics another word for population⁷

[C16: from French univers, from Latin ūniversum the whole world, from ūniversus all together, from uni- + vertere to turn]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

u•ni•verse

(ˈyu nəˌvɜrs)

n.

1. the totality of known or supposed objects and phenomena throughout space; the cosmos; macrocosm.

2. the whole world, esp. with reference to humanity.

3. a world or sphere in which something exists or prevails.

4. Also called u′niverse of dis′course.Logic. the aggregate of all the objects, attributes, and relations assumed or implied in a given discussion.

[1325–75; Middle English < Old French < Latin ūniversus entire, all, literally, turned into one =ūni- ūni- + versus, past participle of vertere to turn]

u·ni·verse

(yo͞o′nə-vûrs′)

All matter and energy, including Earth, the galaxies, and the contents of the space between the galaxies, regarded as a whole.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	universe - everything that exists anywhere; "they study the evolution of the universe"; "the biggest tree in existence" cosmos, macrocosm, world, existence, creation natural object - an object occurring naturally; not made by man extragalactic nebula, galaxy - (astronomy) a collection of star systems; any of the billions of systems each having many stars and nebulae and dust; "`extragalactic nebula' is a former name for `galaxy'" celestial body, heavenly body - natural objects visible in the sky closed universe - (cosmology) a universe that is spatially closed and in which there is sufficient matter to halt the expansion that began with the big bang; the visible matter is only 10 percent of the matter required for closure but there may be large amounts of dark matter estraterrestrial body, extraterrestrial object - a natural object existing outside the earth and outside the earth's atmosphere natural order - the physical universe considered as an orderly system subject to natural (not human or supernatural) laws nature - the natural physical world including plants and animals and landscapes etc.; "they tried to preserve nature as they found it"
	2.	universe - (statistics) the entire aggregation of items from which samples can be drawn; "it is an estimate of the mean of the population" population statistics - a branch of applied mathematics concerned with the collection and interpretation of quantitative data and the use of probability theory to estimate population parameters subpopulation - a population that is part of a larger population aggregation, collection, accumulation, assemblage - several things grouped together or considered as a whole
	3.	universe - everything stated or assumed in a given discussion universe of discourse cognitive content, mental object, content - the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned

universe

noun cosmos, space, creation, everything, nature, heavens, the natural world, macrocosm, all existence Einstein's equations showed the Universe to be expanding.

Quotations
"The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless" [Steven Weinberg The First Three Minutes]
"The universe is not hostile, nor yet is it friendly. It is simply indifferent" [Revd. John H. Holmes A Sensible Man's View of Religion]
"Had I been present at the Creation, I would have given some useful hints for the better ordering of the universe" [attributed to Alfonso `the Wise', King of Castile]
"Now, my own suspicion is that the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose" [J.B.S. Haldane Possible Worlds]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

universe

noun

1. The totality of all existing things:

cosmos, creation, macrocosm, nature, world.

2. The human race:

earth, flesh, Homo sapiens, humanity, humankind, man, mankind, world.

Translations

كَوْن

vesmír

univers

Universum Weltall

σύμπαν

universo

maailmankaikkeusuniversumiavaruuskosmosmaailma

Univers

svemir

alheimurinn

universo giunto cardanico universale universalmente

宇宙

우주

universaliaiuniversalumasvisata

kosmossvisums

vesolje

universum

จักรวาล

evren

vũ trụ

宇宙

universe

[ˈjuːnɪvɜːs] N → universo m
he's the funniest writer in the universe > → es el escritor más divertido del mundo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

universe

[ˈjuːnivɜː^rs] n
the universe → l'univers m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

universe

(= cosmos) → (Welt)all nt, → Universum nt; (= galaxy) → Sternsystem nt; (= world) → Welt f; he’s the funniest writer in the universe (inf) → er schreibt die komischsten Sachen überhaupt

(Logic) universe of discourse → Gesamtheit f → aller Gegenstände der Abhandlung

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

universe

[ˈjuːnɪˌvɜːs] n the universe → l'universo

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

universe

(ˈjuːnivəːs) noun

everything – earth, planets, sun, stars etc – that exists anywhere. Somewhere in the universe there must be another world like ours.

ˌuniˈversal adjective

affecting, including etc the whole of the world or all or most people. English may become a universal language that everyone can learn and use.

ˌuniˈversally adverb

ˌuniverˈsality (-ˈsӕ-) noun

universe

→ كَوْن vesmír univers Universum σύμπαν universo maailmankaikkeus univers svemir universo 宇宙 우주 heelal univers wszechświat universo вселенная universum จักรวาล evren vũ trụ 宇宙

universe

n. universo, mundo, globo.

References in classic literature ?

On earth, here on this earth" (Pierre pointed to the fields), "there is no truth, all is false and evil; but in the universe, in the whole universe there is a kingdom of truth, and we who are now the children of earth are- eternally- children of the whole universe.

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This is the order of truth that obtains, not for the universe, but for the live things in it if they for a little space will endure ere they pass.

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I am amateurish if you like: I do not think that all the universe is straining towards the obscure significance of your pictures."

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"And if I could have mine," retorted the Heathen in His Blindness, bitterly malevolent but oleaginuously suave, "I'd fan all yours out of the universe."

View in context

An observer endued with an infinite range of vision, and placed in that unknown center around which the entire world revolves, might have beheld myriads of atoms filling all space during the chaotic epoch of the universe. Little by little, as ages went on, a change took place; a general law of attraction manifested itself, to which the hitherto errant atoms became obedient: these atoms combined together chemically according to their affinities, formed themselves into molecules, and composed those nebulous masses with which the depths of the heavens are strewed.

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For all Jerry might have known, though he pondered it not, Malaita was a universe, beheaded and resting on the knees of some brooding lesser god, himself vastly mightier than Bashti whose knees bore the brooding weight of Skipper's sun-dried, smoke-cured head, this lesser god vexed and questing, feeling and guessing at the dual twin-mysteries of time and space and of motion and matter, above, beneath, around, and beyond him.

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Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her.

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His life was spent far from the court and away from the sounds of civil warfare, in the endeavour to set himself in harmony with the universe -- to become, in fact, like an Aeolian harp through which all the cords of nature might sweep at will.

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There is infinite variety in the gales of wind at sea, and except for the peculiar, terrible, and mysterious moaning that may be heard sometimes passing through the roar of a hurricane - except for that unforgettable sound, as if the soul of the universe had been goaded into a mournful groan - it is, after all, the human voice that stamps the mark of human consciousness upon the character of a gale.

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It was as though he found in the chaos of the universe a new pattern, and were attempting clumsily, with anguish of soul, to set it down.

View in context

In the intervals of pandemonium, each chattered, cut up, hooted, screeched, and danced, himself sufficient unto himself, filled with his own ideas and volitions to the exclusion of all others, a veritable centre of the universe, divorced for the time being from any unanimity with the other universe-centres leaping and yelling around him.

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Alas, a few years ago, I should have said "my universe": but now my mind has been opened to higher views of things.

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