Utilized

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Employed or put into service for a specific function or task
2. Made practical or effective use of something to achieve a goal
3. Applied or exploited a resource or tool in order to accomplish something

Etymology: "Utilized" is the past tense of "utilize", so its history belongs to that verb. "Utilize" was borrowed from French "utiliser", which had itself been taken from Italian "utilizzare". Italian built that word from "utile", meaning "useful", which came from Latin "ūtilis". The Latin adjective was in turn formed from "ūtī", meaning "to use", so the whole chain rests on a single Latin verb of using. The Italian and French forms passed the word along unchanged in meaning, so "utilize" simply carried the sense of putting something to use into English. The sense of making something practical or effective toward a goal sits close to the Latin root, which is why the word still feels so plainly tied to usefulness.

Synonyms: employed, used, applied, exploited, harnessed

Antonyms: ignored, neglected, wasted, abandoned, disregarded