Universe of discourse

Definition
Universe of discourse is the set of entities we are talking about when using a sentence. Also called domain of discourse.

Example
In using (i)a the universe of discourse can be all human beings (and the sentence is most certainly not true), or it may be a restricted set of human beings (and the sentence may very well be true). In (i)b the universe of discourse has been explicitly restricted by the adjunct in this room.

(i) a everyone is happy b everyone in this room is happy

Links

 * Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics