English Explanatory Dictionary

general

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Including or involving every part or member of a given or implied entity, whole, etc.; common to all, universal.
  2. Applied to a person (as a postmodifier or a normal preceding adjective) to indicate supreme rank, in civil or military titles, and later in other terms; pre-eminent.
  3. Prevalent or widespread among a given class or area; common, usual.
  4. Not limited in use or application; applicable across a broad range.
  5. Giving or consisting of only the most important aspects of something, ignoring minor details; indefinite.
  6. Not of a specific class; miscellaneous.
noun
  1. The holder of a senior military title, originally designating the commander of an army and now a specific rank falling under field marshal (in the British army) and below general of the army or general of the air force in the US army and air forces.
  2. A great strategist or tactician.
  3. A general fact or proposition; a generality.
  4. The head of certain religious orders, especially Dominicans or Jesuits.
  5. The equivalent of a king in Chinese chess, the xiangqi piece that is confined to the palace, moves orthogonally one point at a time, and whose loss decides the game.
  6. Synonym of admiral, a senior naval title, a great naval strategist or tactician.
  7. Short for general servant, a maid-of-all-work, a servant able to be assigned to any task in a household.
  8. Short for general election, a regular election for most offices in a region or country.
  9. Short for general anesthetic, a substance used to numb most feeling throughout the body.
  10. Short for general anesthesia, the category of substances used to numb most feeling throughout the body or an instance of such substances.
  11. Short for general insurance, the area of the insurance industry dealing with policies for the general public.
verb
  1. To lead (soldiers) as a general.
adv
  1. In a general or collective manner or sense; in most cases; upon the whole.
noun
  1. Alternative letter-case form of general in its various senses.
name
  1. Ellipsis of General Hospital.

Pronunciation

jĕnʹ(ə)rəl /ˈd͡ʒɛn.(ə.)ɹəl/ en-us-general.ogg /ˈd͡ʒen.(ə.)ɹəl/ /ˈdʒɛn(ɖ)rəl/ /ˈdʒɛnərəl/

Word forms

general more general most general gen. gen genl gen'l generall generals generaling generalling generaled generalled

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os Proto-Italic *genos Latin genus Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -alis Latin generālisbor. Anglo-Norman generalbor. Middle French generalbor. ▲ Latin generālisder. Middle English general English general From Middle English general, in turn from Anglo-Norman general, generall, Middle French general, and their source, Latin generālis, from genus (“class, kind”) + -ālis (“-al”).

Synonyms

common universal catholic ecumenical general generic nonsingular nonspecific unparticular unsingular unspecific typical usual average basic bog-standard common as bums common as dirt common as muck common as pig tracks dime a dozen everyday frequent habitual nonrare par for the course pedestrian plain quotidian regular routinary routine ten a penny two a penny workaday broad admiral

Antonyms

specific special particular concrete discrete individual peculiar proper singular abnormal uncommon

Related words

hetman

Derived words

General Lagos abbot general accountant general adjutant-general adjutant general advocate general agent general annual general meeting artificial general intelligence attorney general attorney-general bond for general purposes brigadier general buck general captain general caviar to the general colonel general combat general commandant-general commanding general commissary general consulate general consul general consul-general director general director-general dynamic stochastic general equilibrium extraordinary general meeting farmer-general floor general general anaesthesia general anaesthetic general assembly general availability general aviation general cargo general classification general continued fraction general contractor general counsel general creditor generalcy general delivery general direction general education general election general equilibrium General Esco generaless general formula general goods general hospital general-in-chief general insurer general intelligent action generalisation generalization generalise generalize general issue

Translations

Bashkir: дөйөм Bulgarian: общ Burmese: အထွေထွေ French: général Greek: γενικός Hebrew: כללי Indonesian: umum Russian: о́бщий Swedish: allmän Swedish: generell
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