When to use Universe or universe?
I'm editing a document where it is "The Creator of the universe". Is it correct?
asked Jun 17, 2015 at 7:38
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1See this english.stackexchange.com/questions/200375/…– EiliaJun 17, 2015 at 7:43
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2The first two Google hits I found for "in the universe" showed both variants. This is a personal choice: whether you think it better to regard something as grand as 'universe' as requiring proper noun respect. In your context, I'd opt for the proper noun marking.– Edwin AshworthJun 17, 2015 at 7:44
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1Also, an interesting article "Universe Or universe? It All Depends On The Multiverse" (npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/02/19/172391249/…)– EiliaJun 17, 2015 at 7:46
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I think, for consistency, it make sense to capitalize or not, the same as you would with "earth", cf: english.stackexchange.com/q/2286/109750– KimballJun 18, 2015 at 3:43
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It's not a duplicate since your link points to the same question.– clickbaitJun 19, 2015 at 19:39
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2 Answers
You use the capitalized "Universe" when you're talking about THE Universe. For example, "I destroyed the whole Universe."
You use the lowercase "universe" when you're talking about any old universe, that's a common noun. For example, "There might be many different universes," or "The video-game universe is 3D."
http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/02/19/172391249/universe-or-universe-it-all-depends-on-the-multiverse says that if there're many universes, not just one Universe, it'll be lowercase.
Lowercase universe is used for more than one occurance of a universe, such as many video-game universes, or multiverses.
The Universe is one of many, potentially infinite, universes. (The validity if the statement does not really matter here.)
Our universe is essentially named Universe, mostly because it is the first one we knew about. Similarly, the Sun is one of many suns.
It isn't uncommon to refer to a particular universe within a fictitious world as the Universe.
In your sentence, it would be the Universe if it is in a religious context. Although, it could be the case that the Creator simply created this particular universe, with nothing being said about the origins of the rest.
I don't have enough reputation to comment on an answer so I decided to give it a shot.
