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Use Definition

use

See also usé

Contents

English

Wikipedia has an article on: Use

Alternative forms

Etymology 1

From Middle English use, from Old French us, from Latin usus (“use, custom, skill, habit”), from past participle stem of uti (“use”). Replaced native Middle English note (“use”) (See note) from Old English notu, and Middle English nutte (“use”) from Old English nytt.

Pronunciation

Noun

use (plural uses)

  1. The act of using.
    The use of torture has been condemned by the United Nations.
    There is no use for your invention.
  2. (uncountable, followed by "of") Usefulness, benefit.
    What's the use of a law that nobody abides to?
  3. A function; a purpose for which something may be employed.
    This tool has many uses.
Synonyms
Derived terms
terms derived from use (noun)
Translations
act of using
  • Kurdish: به‌کارهێنان
  • Latin: usus (la) m., usurpatio (la) f.
  • Norwegian: bruk (no) m.
  • Polish: użycie (pl) n., stosowanie (pl) n., użytek (pl) m.
  • Portuguese: uso (pt) m.
  • Romanian: folosire (ro) f., uz (ro) f., întrebuințare (ro) f.
  • Romansch: niz m.
  • Russian: употребление (ru) (upotreblénije) n., применение (ru) (primenénije) n.
  • Scots: uiss
  • Slovene: uporaba (sl) f., raba (sl) f.
  • Spanish: uso (es) m.
  • Swahili: matumizi (sw)
  • Turkish: kullanma (tr), kullanım (tr), kullanış (tr)
  • Vietnamese: sự dùng (vi)
usefulness
  • Armenian: օգուտ (hy) (ògut)
  • Dutch: nut (nl) n.
  • Finnish: hyödyllisyys (fi), hyöty (fi)
  • French: utilité (fr) f.
  • German: Nutzen (de) m.
  • Japanese: 効用 (ja) (kōyō)
  • Kurdish: که‌ڵک
  • Norwegian: nytte (no) m.
  • Polish: użytek (pl) m., użyteczność (pl) f.
function
  • Armenian: կիրառություն (hy) (kiraṙut’yun)
  • Czech: použití (cs) n.
  • Dutch: functie (nl) f.
  • Finnish: käyttötarkoitus (fi), käyttökohde (fi)
  • German: Funktion (de) f., Zweck (de) m.
  • Japanese: 用途 (ja) (yōto)
  • Polish: zastosowanie (pl) n., funkcja (pl) f.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 2

From Middle English usen, from Old French user (“use, employ, practice”), from Vulgar Latin *usare "use", frequentative form of past participle stem of Latin uti (“to use”). Replaced native Middle English noten, nutten (“to use”) (from Old English notian, nēotan, nyttian) and Middle English brouken, bruken (“to use, enjoy”) (from Old English brūcan).

Pronunciation

Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -uːz
Homophones: ewes, yews, yous, youse

Verb

use (third-person singular simple present uses, present participle using, simple past and past participle used)

  1. (archaic) To accustom; to habituate.
  2. (transitive) To employ; to apply; to utilize.
    Use this knife to slice the bread.
    We can use this mathematical formula to solve the problem.
  3. (transitive, often with “up”) To exhaust the supply of; to consume by employing
    We should use up most of the fuel.
  4. (transitive) To exploit.
    You never cared about me, you just used me!
  5. (intransitive, now rare, literary) To habitually do; to be wont to do.
    • 1603, John Florio, trans. Michel de Montaigne, Essays, I.48:
      Peter Pol, doctor in divinitie used to sit upon his mule, who as Monstrelet reporteth, was wont to ride up and downe the streets of Paris, ever sitting sideling, as women use.
  6. (intransitive, past tense with infinitive) To habitually do. See used to.
    I used to get things done.
Synonyms
Derived terms
terms derived from use (verb)
Translations
employ, apply
(rare) habitually do
  • French: avoir l'habitude de (fr)
  • German: zu tun pflegen (de), gewöhnlich tun (de)
  • Italian: essere solito (it)
used to — see used to

References

Statistics

Anagrams


French

Pronunciation

Verb

use

  1. first-person singular present indicative of user
  2. third-person singular present indicative of user
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of user
  4. first-person singular present subjunctive of user
  5. second-person singular imperative of user

Anagrams


Latin

Participle

ūse

  1. vocative masculine singular of ūsus

Portuguese

Verb

use

  1. First-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of verb usar.
  2. Third-person singular (ele, ela, also used with tu and você?) present subjunctive of verb usar.
  3. Third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of verb usar.
  4. Third-person singular (você) negative imperative of verb usar.

Spanish

Verb

use (infinitive usar)

  1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of usar.
  2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of usar.
  3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of usar.
  4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of usar.

 

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