Word of the Day

: September 20, 2020

ubiquitous

adjective yoo-BIK-wuh-tuss

What It Means

: existing or being everywhere at the same time : constantly encountered : widespread

ubiquitous in Context

"Within China, WeChat is ubiquitous, serving as an all-in-one app that's important for making payments and even for displaying someone's coronavirus test results." — David Ingram, NBCNews.com, 7 Aug. 2020

"Without companies that developed front-facing smartphone cameras for luxury smartphones, we never would have had the now ubiquitous selfie camera." — Shira Ovide, The New York Times, 13 Aug. 2020

Did You Know?

Ubiquitous comes to us from the noun ubiquity, meaning "presence everywhere or in many places simultaneously." Both words are ultimately derived from the Latin word for "everywhere," which is ubique. Ubiquitous, which has often been used with a touch of exaggeration to describe those things that it seems like you can't go a day without encountering, has become a more widespread and popular word than ubiquity. It may not quite be ubiquitous, but if you keep your eyes and ears open, you're apt to encounter the word ubiquitous quite a bit.