Utility

Utility
1. An economic term referring to the total satisfaction received from consuming a good or service.

2. A company that generates, transmits and/or distributes electricity, water and/or gas from facilities that it owns and/or operates.

1. A consumer's utility is hard to measure. However, we can determine it indirectly with consumer behavior theories, which assume that consumers will strive to maximize their utility. Utility is a concept that was introduced by Daniel Bernoulli. He believed that for the usual person, utility increased with wealth but at a decreasing rate.

2. Since consumer demand for utilities does not change dramatically with a change in price, these companies are regulated by the state or provincial and federal governments.


Investment dictionary. . 2012.

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Synonyms:
(in an abstract sense), , , , , ,


Look at other dictionaries:

  • Utility — U*til i*ty, n. [OE. utilite, F. utilit[ e], L. utilitas, fr. utilis useful. See {Utile}.] [1913 Webster] 1. The quality or state of being useful; usefulness; production of good; profitableness to some valuable end; as, the utility of manure upon… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • utility — util·i·ty n pl ties 1: fitness for some purpose or worth to some end 2 a: public utility b: a service or commodity provided by a public utility paid for rent and utilities; also: equipment or m …   Law dictionary

  • Utility — (engl. ‚Nutzen‘, ‚Versorgungsbetrieb‘) bezeichnet ein Dienstprogramm, Software Werkzeug zur Verwaltung eines Betriebssystems einen Fahrzeugtyp wie zum Beispiel den Holden Utility Landing Craft, Utility, ein Mehrzweck Landungsboot siehe auch:… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • utility — ► NOUN (pl. utilities) 1) the state of being useful, profitable, or beneficial. 2) a public utility. 3) Computing a utility program. ► ADJECTIVE ▪ useful, especially through having several functions. ORIGIN Latin utilitas, from utilis …   English terms dictionary

  • utility — late 14c., fact of being useful, from O.Fr. utilite usefulness (late 13c.), earlier utilitet (12c.), from L. utilitatem (nom. utilitas) usefulness, serviceableness, profit, from utilis usable, from uti (see USE (Cf. use) (v.)). As a shortened… …   Etymology dictionary

  • utility — [yo͞o til′ə tē] n. pl. utilities [ME utilite < OFr utilité < L utilitas < utilis, UTILE] 1. the quality or property of being useful; usefulness 2. something useful 3. a) something useful to the public, esp. the service of electric power …   English World dictionary

  • utility — /ju tiləti/, it. /u tiliti/ s. ingl. (propr. utilità ; pl. invar. o utilities ), usato in ital. al femm. (inform.) [spec. al plur., serie di istruzioni che facilitano, estendono o soccorrono le funzioni del sistema operativo o di un applicazione] …   Enciclopedia Italiana

  • utility — (izg. jutìliti) m DEFINICIJA inform. uslužni program, v. uslužan ETIMOLOGIJA engl …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • utility — *use, usefulness Analogous words: suitability, fitness, appropriateness (see corresponding adjectives at FIT): value, *worth …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • utility — [n] serviceableness account, adequacy, advantage, advantageousness, applicability, appropriateness, avail, benefit, convenience, efficacy, efficiency, expediency, favor, fitness, function, point, practicality, productiveness, profit, relevance,… …   New thesaurus

  • Utility — This article is about the economic concept. For other uses, see Utility (disambiguation). Part of a series on Utilitarianism …   Wikipedia

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