Utilize the Proper Usage of Use, or is it Use the Proper Usage of Utilize?

Last week we discovered why words ending with a j sound are spelled –dge. But as with many things in English it is not universal usage. Usage is a good example. Which reminds me of a George Carlin statement (p. 745 in his book 3x Carlin):

I object to the use of usage when it’s used in place of use. There’s nothing wrong with using use; it’s been in use a long time and I’m used to it. It isn’t that usage isn’t useful; I simply have no use for its current usage. The use of usage should be consistent with good usage: I’d prefer to say, “My use of the Internet” rather than “my usage.”….And, as I’m using space on usage, I’ll use some more on utilize.

That is what I so enjoyed about George Carlin – his interest in language. Why do we have three words like use, usage, and utilization that all mean similar things? Are they synonyms or “simonyms”?

Let’s start at the beginning of the words in English. The first word to arrive in English was the noun use, in the early 1200s. It came to English from an Old French word us. The French got it from the Latin word usus, which means custom, skill or habit. It refers to the act or state of being employed or putting into service. (Isn't it interesting how you cannot define a simple word without using more complex words? That question just used the verb form of use.)

Use became a verb within a few years (in the mid-13^th century), from the Old French word user, which came from the Vulgar Latin usare, the “frequentative form of the past participle stem of Latin uti ‘to use,’ in Old Latin oeti ‘use, employ, exercise, perform.” (Thank you, etymonline.com for such a pedantic explanation.) Prior to that time, the Old English would have used the word brucan, from which we have the verb brook. (“I will not brook any disagreement.”) More on that next month.

The next to arrive in English was probably usage. It is a noun that means the customary way of doing something. It arrived in English around 1300 from the Anglo-French and Old French word usage, which also meant custom or habit, but referred not to what can be a singular, one-time way of doing something or employing or putting something into service, but to a custom or habit. So when something has a customary way of happening, we call that a usage. There is a sense of repetition in it that is not in "use" or "utilize."

Utilize was the last to arrive in English. It also is a verb, meaning “to put to use.” But it only arrived in 1807, from the French utiliser, which the French got from the Italian utilizzare, from their word utile, which came from the Latin word utilis, which meant usable. Dictionary.com uses the phrase “turn to profitable account” in defining utilize. There is more specificity and personalization to utilize than to use. The difference being you would use utilize when the act or item is achieving a specific or positive purpose. Otherwise, common usage should be to use use. 

So they are not synonyms. As nouns, use is for one-time occurrence, usage for a habitual occurrence. As verbs use is common, while utilize is for something that is put to productive account. They're "simonyms."

George Carlin on Words

George Carlin, the eminent author (didn’t he win a Pulitzer or Nobel or something?) wrote in 3x Carlin, the compilation of his three books: “Why is it the only time you ever hear the word figment it’s in relation to the imagination? Aren’t there any other figments?”

The usage of figment to which George refers is its meaning as a product of one’s mental invention. If I understand the definition, then “of the imagination” is redundant. Figment refers only to a fantastic (as in fantasy) notion. Figment comes from the Latin word figmentum, which means something formed or fashioned, a creation. It came to English in the 15^th century and is now found almost exclusively as part of the phrase “figment of…imagination.” However, it’s a good word that doesn’t require the explanatory “…of the imagination.” Try to stop yourself the next time you begin the phrase and use just the word. “That’s just a figment.” And George, the answer is: not really; all figments are products of imagination or thought or dreams.

George also had an interesting exposition on the usage of use (pg. 745, op cit.): “I object to the use of usage when it’s used in place of use. There’s nothing wrong with using use; it’s been in use a long time and I’m used to it. It isn’t that usage isn’t useful; I simply have no use for its current usage. The use of usage should be consistent with good usage: I’d prefer to say, ‘My use of the Internet’ rather than ‘my usage.’….And, as I’m using space on usage, I’ll use some more on utilize.”

Use, usage and utilize are an interesting trilogy. Use is used as both a noun and a verb. Usage is a noun and utilize a verb. My dictionary has no less than 27 definitions of the word use. It also tries to explain the difference between our trilogy of words:

Use, utilize mean to make something serve one’s purpose. Use is the general word: to use a telephone; to use a saw and other tools; to use one’s eyes; to use eggs in cooking. (What is used often has depreciated or been diminished, sometimes completely consumed: a used automobile; All the butter has been used.) As applied to persons, use implies some selfish or sinister purpose; to use another to advance oneself. Utilize implies practical or profitable use: to utilize the means at hand, a modern system of lighting.

The nouns usage and use are related in origin and meaning and to some extent overlap in their use. Usage usually refers to habitual or customary practices of procedures: Some usage of the Anglican Church are similar to those of the Roman Catholic Church. It is also commonly used in reference to language practices: English usage is divided in the pronunciation of aunt.

Use came to English in the mid-1200s from the Old French word use, which the Old French got from the Vulgar Latin word usare. The meanings haven’t changed, but the English word use replaced an Old English word brucan. Usage is not formed from the word use. It came from an Anglo-French and Old French word usage which meant custom, habit, or experience. So usage as an established custom or habit makes sense. Utilize is the most recent word to come into English. It arrived in 1807 from the French word utilizer and the Italian word utilizzare.

So what are the differences? Usage is used when something is used repeatedly, as a habit or custom. Utilize is a little more difficult. Its meaning is the same as a couple definitions of the word use, both of which use the word purpose. When something is used to result in some positive outcome, utilize is often used. Use is more useful than utilize, but utilize shows that you have made use of something to positive effect. When in doubt, usage dictates you use use.