general

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See also: General, generál, général, generał, and general-

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

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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”).

Pronunciation

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  • Hyphenation: gene‧ral, gen‧er‧al

Adjective

general (comparative more general, superlative most general)

  1. Including or involving every part or member of a given or implied entity, whole etc.; as opposed to specific or particular. [from 13th c.]
    • c. 1495, John Skelton, "Vppon a deedman's hed":
      It is generall / To be mortall: / I haue well espyde / No man may hym hyde / From Deth holow eyed […] .
    • 1842, Douglas Jerrold, “Mr Peppersorn ‘At Home’”, in Cakes and Ale:
      "Among us!" was the general shout, and Peppersorn sat frozen to his chair.
    • 1946, Bertrand Russell, “Stoicism”, in History of Western Philosophy, book 1, part 3:
      Undoubtedly the age of the Antonines was much better than any later age until the Renaissance, from the point of view of the general happiness.
    • 2006 October 15, Ruth Sutherland, “Invite public to the private equity party”, in The Observer:
      One advantage of having profitable companies in Britain is that they pay large sums in corporate tax into the Exchequer, which in theory at least is used for the general good.
  2. (sometimes postpositive) 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. [from 14th c.]
    • 1865, Edward Cust, Lives of the Warriors of the Thirty Years War, page 527:
      For these successes he obtained the rank of Field-Marshal General.
    • 2002, James Turner, Libertines and Radicals in Early Modern London, page 122:
      He becomes the chief chartered libertine, the whoremaster-general flourishing his "standard" over a female army […] .
  3. Prevalent or widespread among a given class or area; common, usual. [from 14th c.]
    • 1817, Sir Walter Scott, chapter IX, in Rob Roy:
      ‘I can't quite afford you the sympathy you expect upon this score,’ I replied; ‘the misfortune is so general, that it belongs to one half of the species […] .’
    • 2008 December 20, John Patterson, “Home movies”, in The Guardian:
      The general opinion on Baz Luhrmann's overstuffed epic Australia seems to be that it throws in everything but the kitchen sink, and then tosses that in too, just to be sure.
  4. Not limited in use or application; applicable to the whole or every member of a class or category. [from 14th c.]
    • 1924 March 17, Time:
      M. Venizelos went to Athens from Paris early last January in response to a general invitation from the Greek populace.
    • 2009, Douglas P. Zipes, Saturday Evening Post, volume 281, number 1, page 20:
      Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is a general term indicating a rapid heartbeat (tachycardia) coming from the top chambers of the heart - in essence, above (supra) the lower chamber (ventricular).
  5. Giving or consisting of only the most important aspects of something, ignoring minor details; indefinite. [from 16th c.]
    • 1817, Sir Walter Scott, chapter X, in Rob Roy:
      As she thus spoke, the entrance of the servants with dinner cut off all conversation but that of a general nature.
    • 2006 July 16, Kevin Nance, “Ghosts of the White City”, in Chicago Sun-Times:
      The quick answer is that the 1893 Exposition was simply so important — "the greatest event in the history of the country since the Civil War," as Harper's put it that October — but that feels too general.
    • 2008, Robert P. Maloney, “The Quiet Carpenter”, in America, volume 199, number 19, page 18:
      Given the scarcity of relevant historical detail in the New Testament, we are left with only a general outline about Joseph.
  6. Not limited to a specific class; miscellaneous, concerned with all branches of a given subject or area. [from 16th c.]
    • 1941, W Somerset Maugham, Up at the Villa, Vintage, published 2004, page 24:
      There was a moment's pause. The Princess broke in with some casual remark and once more the conversation became general.
    • 1947 October 20, “Russian Catechism”, in Time:
      Already in the primary school work is conducted for the purpose of equipping the pupils with those elements of general knowledge which are closely related to the military preparation of future warriors.
    • 2007, Alan Cheuse, “A Little Death”, in Southern Review, volume 43, number 3, page 692:
      His measured, springless walk was the walk of the skilled countryman as distinct from the desultory shamble of the general labourer […] .

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun

general (countable and uncountable, plural generals)

  1. (now rare) A general fact or proposition; a generality. [from 16th c.]
    We have dealt with the generals; now let us turn to the particulars.
  2. (military) 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. [from 16th c.]
  3. A great strategist or tactician. [from 16th c.]
    Hannibal was one of the greatest generals of the ancient world.
  4. (Christianity) The head of certain religious orders, especially Dominicans or Jesuits. [from 16th c.]
  5. (nautical) A commander of naval forces; an admiral. [16th-18th c.]
  6. (colloquial, now historical) A general servant; a maid with no specific duties. [from 19th c.]
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  7. (countable) A general anesthetic.
  8. (uncountable) General anesthesia.
  9. (uncountable, insurance) The general insurance industry.
    I work in general.
Usage notes

When used as a title, it is always capitalized.

Example: General John Doe.

The rank corresponds to pay grade O-10. Abbreviations: GEN.

Coordinate terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

Verb

general (third-person singular simple present generals, present participle generalling or generaling, simple past and past participle generalled or generaled)

  1. To lead (soldiers) as a general.

Adverb

general (not comparable)

  1. (obsolete) In a general or collective manner or sense; in most cases; upon the whole.

Anagrams

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin generālis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

general m or f (masculine and feminine plural generals)

  1. general

Noun

general m (plural generals, feminine generala)

  1. (military) general

Derived terms

Further reading

Danish

Noun

general c (singular definite generalen, plural indefinite generaler)

  1. general

Inflection

Declension of general
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative general generalen generaler generalerne
genitive generals generalens generalers generalernes

Ladin

Adjective

general m (feminine singular generala, masculine plural generai, feminine plural generales)

  1. general

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From a mixture of Anglo-Norman general, Middle French general, and Latin generālis.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dʒɛnəˈraːl/, /ˈdʒɛnəral/

Adjective

general

  1. universal, complete
  2. comprehensive, wide-ranging
  3. general, widely useable or applicable
  4. common, widely present

Descendants

  • English: general
  • Scots: general

References

Noun

general (plural generals)

  1. genus, class, group

References

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

general m (definite singular generalen, indefinite plural generaler, definite plural generalene)

  1. (military) a general

Derived terms

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

general m (definite singular generalen, indefinite plural generalar, definite plural generalane)

  1. (military) a general

Derived terms

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin generālis.

Noun

general oblique singular, m (oblique plural generaus or generax or generals, nominative singular generaus or generax or generals, nominative plural general)

  1. (military) general

Adjective

general m (oblique and nominative feminine singular generale)

  1. general (not limited in use or application; applicable to the whole or every member of a class or category)

Declension

Declension of general
Number Case Masculine Feminine Neuter
Singular Subject generals, generaus, generax generale general
Oblique general generale general
Plural Subject general generales general
Oblique generals, generaus, generax generales general

Descendants

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin generālis. See also geral, from the same source.

Pronunciation

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  • Hyphenation: ge‧ne‧ral

Noun

general m (plural generais, feminine generala, feminine plural generalas)

  1. (military) general

Descendants

Further reading

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French général, from Latin generālis.

Pronunciation

Noun

general m (plural generali)

  1. general

Declension

Declension of general
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) general generalul (niște) generali generalii
genitive/dative (unui) general generalului (unor) generali generalilor
vocative generalule generalilor

Adjective

general m or n (feminine singular generală, masculine plural generali, feminine and neuter plural generale)

  1. general

Declension

Declension of general
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative/
accusative 		indefinite general generală generali generale
definite generalul generala generalii generalele
genitive/
dative 		indefinite general generale generali generale
definite generalului generalei generalilor generalelor

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From German General, from Latin generālis.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡeněraːl/
  • Hyphenation: ge‧ne‧ral

Noun

genèrāl m (Cyrillic spelling генѐра̄л)

  1. (military) general

Declension

Declension of general
singular plural
nominative genèrāl generali
genitive generála generala
dative generalu generalima
accusative generala generale
vocative generale generali
locative generalu generalima
instrumental generalom generalima

Slovene

Etymology

From German General, from Latin generālis.

Pronunciation

Noun

generȃl m anim (female equivalent generȃlica or generȃlka)

  1. (military) general

Inflection

 The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.
Masculine anim., hard o-stem
nom. sing. generál
gen. sing. generála
singular dual plural
nominative
(imenovȃlnik) 		generál generála generáli
genitive
(rodȋlnik) 		generála generálov generálov
dative
(dajȃlnik) 		generálu generáloma generálom
accusative
(tožȋlnik) 		generála generála generále
locative
(mẹ̑stnik) 		generálu generálih generálih
instrumental
(orọ̑dnik) 		generálom generáloma generáli

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin generālis.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /xeneˈɾal/ [xe.neˈɾal]

Adjective

general m or f (masculine and feminine plural generales)

  1. general

Derived terms

Noun

general m (plural generales, feminine generala, feminine plural generalas)

  1. (military) general

Further reading

Swedish

Pronunciation

Noun

general c

  1. a general; a military title[1]
  2. an Air Chief Marshal[1]

Declension

Declension of general 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative general generalen generaler generalerna
Genitive generals generalens generalers generalernas

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Utrikes namnbok (7th ed., 2007) →ISBN
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