Etymology Dictionary

UNIVERSAL,  comprehending the whole, extending to the whole.  (F.,—L.)   M.E. vniuersal; spelt vniuersall, Gower, C.A. iii. 91, l. 25.—F. universel (sometimes universal in the 14th century), 'vniversall,' Cot.—Lat. uniuersalis, belonging to the whole.—Lat. uniuersum, the whole; neut. of uniuersus, turned into one, combined into a whole.—Lat. uni-, for uno-, crude form of unus, one; and uersus, pp. of uertere, to turn; see Unity and Verse.   Der. universal-ly, universal-i-ty, universal-ism.   Also (from F. univers = Lat. uniuersum) universe, Henry V., iv. chor. 3; also univers-i-ty, orig. a community, corporation, M.E. vniuersite, used in the sense of 'world' in Wyclif, James, iii. 6, from F. université, 'university, also an university,' Cot., from Lat. acc. uniuersitatem.

ADDENDA

UNIVERSITY.   Anglo-F. universite, Year-Books of Edw. I. iii. 429.