meaning of "utilitus"

[marcus unrealius]

I have no latin and less greek, and am trying to appreciate the grammatical nuances of the particular word "UTILITUS". The best clue I've come across on the Web is:<br /><br />utilitas : utility, usefulness.<br /><br />utilitus<br />itus SUFFIX <br />of _; from the _<br />utilitus ADV POS <br />utilis, utilis, utile ADJ <br />useful, profitable, practical, helpful, advantageous;<br /><br />I gather that "utilitus" is adverbial with a sense indicated by the terms listed in the last line above. Any comments on this or examples such as "utilitus maximus" would be greatly appreciated.<br />

[benissimus]

I think the word you have in mind is "utilitas" which means "utility" or "usefulness". It's sort of hard to tell how to approach a word unless you know the context, because it can be an invented word, an error, an unusual word, or simply a word that isn't in the dictionary for some reason.<br /><br />The word utilitas comes from the word utilis/utile which means "useful" or "helpful". The word utilis/utile itself comes from the verb utor, uti, usus sum meaning "to use", whence we derive the English word "use" among many others.<br /><br />Some uses of utilitas from Cassel's Latin Dictionary are:<br />utilitas parta per amicum<br /> -Cicero, Pliny, Horace<br />"an advantage/benefit gained through a friend"<br /><br />utilitates ex amicitia maxime capientur<br /> -Cicero<br />"profits will be most especially taken out of friendship"<br /><br />As you can see, words, just as in English, can take on any number of meanings, and even more when put into these special statements. Maybe you can clarify where you found the word?

[marcus unrealius]

benissimus, thanks for your reply... <br /><br />You correctly identify 'utilitAs' as a proper latin word with the meaning you indicate; Oxford philosophy don Roger Crisp defines it as "usefull for well being" and publishes an academic journal of that name that is concerned with Benthamite studies.<br /><br />But my question does concern 'utiliUs', which I did indeed "invent", though it turns up via Google in the work of one mathamatician also. I gather from your reply that my version is not 'proper', which is fine, since it really is a 'brand name'. (See www.utilitus.org).<br /><br />For me, it was a matter of curiosity and intellectual integrity to fully understand any possible interpretation or implication of it's use, ever since I came across the treatment I cited, which did seem to cover my spelling. Is latin so flexible that one can invent such terms with arbitrary meaning? <br /><br />Again, thanks for your input.<br /><br />

[klewlis]

Perseus turns up 0 results for utilitus, so I'm assuming that any instances of it on Google (which I looked at briefly) are mistakes and/or made up.

[marcus unrealius]

klewlis,<br /><br />sextus empiricus & I thank you!<br /> <br />

[Moerus]

I have found the solution for 'utilitUS'.<br />It doesn 't exist! It's no Latin word at all. <br />So if it is in a Latin text or if you find it somewhere else, so erase it instantly!!! And if you know the autor of such a word, give him an execution. <br />That's what I would do. <br /><br />

[marcus unrealius]

Moerus,<br /><br />thanks for your confirmation re the (un)nature of this term...<br /><br />As I note in the third posting of this thread, I myself invented the 'word', and was just trying to verify that it was inded a neologism. I shall draw a bath and execute myself forthwith.<br />

[Moerus]

Euh ok, but why invent a new word? There is already a word for each meaning!<br />We have utilitas as a substantive, utilis as an adjective and also utiliter as an adverb, but utiliter is rare, but it exists.<br />So did you think to give this word a new meaning too?