uterine

[Lat. uterinus born of the same mother, from uterus (q. v.).] 1. Of or belonging to the uterus or womb. 2. Born of the same mother, but by a different father. IMG:content-0351.png:[blocks in formation] ū-ter-ŭs, s. [Lat.] I. Ord. Lang.: The womb. II. Technically: 1. Anatomy: (1) Compar.: A dilation in the walls of the oviduct for the preservation or development of the ova. In Birds, although the ova are developed externally, the term uterus is often applied to that cavity where the eggs receive the shell. In most of the Viviparous Fishes, and in the Viviparous Lacer til i a and Ophidia the ova develop within the uterine cavity without any a istance or nourishment from the mother. In the Prot other i a (= Ornithodelphia =Monotremata) the oviducts, according to some authorities, have no distinct uter ine or Fallopian portion, but open directly into a cloacal chamber. Gegenbaur, however, calls the lower end of each oviduct a uterus. In the Meta the ria (=Didelphia=Marsupial i a) each of the oviducts is differentiated into uterine and Fal Scand. Mythol.: The uttermost borders of the giants and monsters: hell. (Grimm. Deut. Mythol., ed. Stallybra , i. 245.) *u-tile, a . [Fr., from Latin utilis , from utor =to use.] Useful, profitable, beneficial. ( Levins . ) u-til-I-tär-I-an, adj . & subst . [Eng. utilit(y); -arian.] A. As adjective : 1. Of or pertaining to utility. 2. Pertaining or relating to utilitarianism. "The author of this e ay has reason for believing himself to be the first person who brought the word utilitarian into use. He did not invent it, but adopted it from a pa ing expre ion in Mr. Galt's 'Annals of the Parish.' After using it as a designation for several years, he and others abandoned it from a growing dislike to anything resembling a badge or watchword of sectarian distinction. But, as a name for one single opinion, not a set of opinions to denote the recognition of utility as a standard, not any particular way of applying it-the term supplies a want in the language, and offers in many cases a convenient mode of avoiding tiresome circumlocution."J. S. Mill: Utilitarianism , ch. ii. (Note.) B. As subst.: One who upholds the doctrine of utilitarianism. "Although Utilitarians hold that good and evil, right and wrong are properly determined by a calculation of the consequences as regards human happine , they do not all maintain that past or existing systems of morals have been on all points founded on this principle." Chambers' Encyc . (ed. 1867), ix. 684. . : sm . ) u-til-I-tär-I-an-işm, subst . [Eng. utilitarian ; Ethics: A word coined by J. Stuart Mill to denote that system which makes the happine of mankind the criterion of right. It is thus more extensive than Epicureanism, which constituted personal happine a criterion for the individual, individual, leaving the happine of others out of the question. The system owes its origin to Bentham (1748-1832), was attacked by Macaulay in the Edinburgh Review, and is thus defined by J. S. Mill: "The creed which accepts, as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happine Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happine , wrong as they tend to promote the reverse of happine . By happine is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappine , pain, and the privation of pleasure. To give a clear view of the moral standard set up by the theory much more requires to be said; in particular what things it in cludes in the ideas of pain or pleasure; and to what extent this is left an open question. But these supplementary explanations do not affect the theory of life on which this theory of morality is grounded namely, that pleasure and freedom from pain are the only things desirable as ends: and that all de sirable things (which are as numerous in the utilitarian as in any other scheme are desirable either for the pleasure inherent in themselves, or as means to the promotion of pleasures and the pre vention of pain." u-til-1-ty, *u-til-i-te, *u-til-i-tie, subst. [Fr. utilité , from Lat. utilitatem , acc us. of utilitas -uses fulne , from utilis useful, from utor =to use; Sp. lopian tracts, opening into a long and distinct vagina. In the Eutheria (=Mono delph i a, including all other Mammals) the uterus is variously modified. In the Primates it is normally single, though instances of a double uterus occasionally occur; it is two-horned in the Ruminant i a, Pachyderm at a, Equide, and Cetacea, and is said to be divided when it has only a very short body, which speedily divides externally and internally, and is continuous with the oviducts (as in most of the Carnivora and Edentata, and some of the Rodent i a); it is actually double in some of the Edentata and in most of the Rodent i a, including the mouse and the hare, each oviduct pa ing into an in test in i form uterus, which has two completely distinct openings lying near to each other within the vagina. utilidad; Ital. utilità.] 1. The quality or state of being useful; useful. ne ; the quality of being serviceable or conducive to some desirable end or purpose; use, advantageousne , serviceablene . " Utility is that quality in things in virtue of which they afford satisfaction and enjoyment to those who po e them. Utility is the source of value in all valuable things. them, or create a desire in persons to get po e ion of Anything that is usele for any purpose whatever, is without any value. Neverthele , utility , like value, is not a quality inherent in things themselves, but arises from the fact that things are desired, and only so far as they are desired."-Bithell: Counting-House Dict. IMG:content-0352.png:[blocks in formation] Utopian 2. The greatest happine of the greatest number; the fundamental principle of Utilitarianism (q. v.). "A perfectly just conception of Utility or Happine , considered as the directive rule of human sonduct."-I. S. Mill : Utilitarianism , ch. ii.