utility
n. C / Un. the quality of being useful or practical. It can also mean a basic service like water or electricity that everyone needs.
n. the state or quality of being useful, profitable, or beneficial. In technical contexts, it refers to a public service provider or a software program designed for a specific system task.
The utility of this new tool is very high.
The apartment rent includes the cost of every basic utility such as heating, water, and electricity.
Economists often measure consumer satisfaction through the concept of marginal utility, which tracks the additional benefit gained from consuming one more unit of a good.
From Middle English utilite, from Old French utilite, utilitet (“usefulness”), from Latin ūtilitās, from uti (“to use”). By surface analysis, utile + -ity.
Uncountable when referring to the abstract quality of usefulness; countable when referring to public service companies or software tools.