use
Definitions
General English
- noun the fact of being used
- verb to take something such as a tool and do something with it
- verb to take a substance and do something with it
Aviation
- noun the act of using something, or the state of being used
- verb to put something to work for a purpose
Banking
- verb to take something, e.g. a machine, a company or a process, and work with it
Computing
- verb to consume a resource such as heat or light
Information & Library Science
- noun the ability or permission to use something
- verb to employ somebody or something for a particular purpose
Law
- noun land held by the legal owner on trust for a beneficiary
Travel
- noun the act of taking something and making it serve a purpose, or the way in which something is used
Origin & History of “use”
The verb use comes via Old French user from vulgar Latin *ūsāre. This was derived from ūsus, the past participle of Latin ūtī ‘use’ (source also of English utensil, utility (14th c.), utilize (19th c.), etc). Latin ūsus was also used as a noun, meaning ‘use, usage’, and this has given English the noun use (13th c.) and the derivatives usage (13th c.) (an Old French formation), usual, usurp, and usury. Abuse (14th c.) and peruse (15th c.) (etymologically ‘use up’) go back to the same Latin roots.
