Meaning & use
universe
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Meanings
nounsingular
Everything that exists, including all space, matter, energy and time, from the smallest particle to the biggest galaxy.
Grammar: Usually the universe; capital U is sometimes used in science.
Patterns
- in the universe
- the age of the universe
Scientists study how the universe began.
The universe keeps expanding.
Are we alone in the universe?
nouncountablefigurative
A particular area of life or activity seen as a complete world of its own.
Grammar: Figurative: a fictional universe.
Patterns
- the universe of something
Fans love the film's detailed fictional universe.
For a small child, the home is the whole universe.
He entered the universe of online gaming.
nouncountabletechnical
The complete set of people or things from which a sample is taken in a study.
Grammar: Technical, in statistics.
Patterns
- the universe of something
The survey's universe is all adults in the city.
Define your universe before drawing a sample.
The universe of voters is large.
Word forms
| plural | universes |
|---|
Common combinations
- expanding universe
- The expanding universe puzzles astronomers.
- observable universe
- The observable universe has billions of galaxies.
- parallel universe
- The story takes place in a parallel universe.
- origin of the universe
- They discuss the origin of the universe.
- center of the universe
- He thinks he is the center of the universe.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cosmos
- Cosmos suggests the universe as an ordered, beautiful whole and sounds more poetic.
- space
- Space means the emptiness beyond Earth, narrower than universe.
- creation
- Creation suggests the universe as something made, often with religious sense.
- world
- World usually means Earth or a small sphere, not everything that exists.
Word family
- universal adjective
- relating to everyone or everything
- universally adverb
- by everyone, everywhere
- university noun
- a place of higher learning
- universality noun
- the quality of applying everywhere
Commonly confused: universe or galaxy? universe or solar system?
universe vs galaxy
A galaxy is one huge group of stars; the universe contains billions of galaxies.
universe vs solar system
The solar system is the Sun and what orbits it, far smaller than the universe.
Practice
Our galaxy is just one of billions in the ____.
Choose one answer.
The universe contains all galaxies. A planet or orbit cannot contain billions of galaxies.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “universe”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.