Deutsch: Nutzenfunktion / Español: Utilidad (economía) / Português: Utilidade (economia) / Français: Utilitê / Italiano: Utilità (economia)
In economics, utility is a representation of preferences over some set of goods and services. Preferences have a (continuous) utility representation so long as they are transitive, complete, and continuous. Utility is usually applied by economists in such constructs as the indifference curve, which plot the combination of commodities that an individual or a society would accept to maintain a given level of satisfaction.
In the industrial and industry context, "utility" refers to the services and resources that are necessary for the operation and maintenance of a facility, process, or system. They are often referred to as "support services" and are essential for the smooth running of an industrial or manufacturing operation.