universal

adj

1. Of or pertaining to the universe.
2. Common to all members of a group or class.

   “In Logic, the letter A is used as a symbol for the universal affirmative proposition in the general form "all x is y."”

   “I had been planning every day through these years toward a universal car.”

   “Eventually, the railway opened on Monday, December 14, 1896, with a universal fare of 1d. collected at the turnstiles, and conditions were immediately chaotic, as many passengers travelled round and round, and refused to leave the cars.”

   “Sutton SignWriting is the universal and complete solution for written sign language, ISO 15924 script code "Sgnw".”

3. Common to all society; worldwide.

   “She achieved universal fame.”

   “[John] Dryden's univerſal genius, his firmly eſtablished reputation, and the glory his memory muſt always reflect upon the nation that gave him birth, make us ardently wiſh for a more accurate life of him than any which has hitherto appeared: […]”

4. Unlimited; vast; infinite.

   “Playwrights have recognized the usefulness of this archetype and used him in many dramatic contexts, for the Trickster's freedom from determination gives him a universal fascination.”

5. Useful for many purposes; all-purpose.

   “universal wrench”

noun

1. A characteristic or property that particular things have in common.

   “When we examine common words, we find that, broadly speaking, proper names stand for particulars, while other substantives, adjectives, prepositions, and verbs stand for universals.”

   “We might also distinguish those expressions which are used to refer to individuals or particulars from those which are used to refer to what philosophers have called universals: e.g., to distinguish such expressions as "Everest" and "this chair" from "the number three", "the color red" and "drunkenness".”

   “Empiricism was similarly a response to this loss of universals—a radically contingent world with no underlying order must constantly be studied and tested—and made God himself unnecessary: divine spirit and human spirit were alien enough to each other that they could function without taking each other into account.”