generally

English

Etymology

From Middle English generally, generalliche, equivalent to general +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɹə.liː/, IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.ɹə.li/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɚ.li/, IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɚ.ə.li/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adverb

generally (comparative more generally, superlative most generally)

1. Popularly or widely.

   It is generally known that the Earth is round.

2. As a rule; usually.

   I generally have a walk in the afternoon.

   • 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond‎^[1]:

     During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant […]

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 2:

     He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.

   • 1922, Michael Arlen, “3/19/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:

     Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house ; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something ; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.

3. Without reference to specific details.

   Generally speaking …

   • 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:

     “There ain’t no drain of nothing short handy, is there?” said the Chicken, generally. “This here sluicing night is hard lines to a man as lives on his condition.”
     Captain Cuttle proffered a glass of rum […]

4. In the general case, without exception.

   It is generally true that the angles of a triangle sum to 180 degrees.

5. (obsolete) Collectively; as a whole; without omissions.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Samuel 17:11:

     I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee.

Synonyms

• (popularly or widely): commonly
• (as a rule; usually): basically, by and large, commonly, ordinarily, mostly, regularly, wontedly; see also Thesaurus:mostly or Thesaurus:usually or Thesaurus:normally
• (without reference to specific details): generically; see also Thesaurus:generally
• (collectively): collaboratively, en masse; see also Thesaurus:jointly

Derived terms

• generally speaking

Translations

popularly or widely

• Arabic: عُمُومًا‎ (ʕumūman)
• Armenian: ընդհանրապես (hy) (əndhanrapes)
• Azerbaijani: ümumilikdə, ümumiyyətlə, ümumiyyətcə, ümumiliklə
• Bashkir: ғөмүмән (ğömümän)
• Catalan: generalment (ca)
• Finnish: yleensä (fi), tavallisesti (fi)
• French: généralement (fr), en général (fr)
• Galician: xeralmente (gl)
• Georgian: ფართოდ (partod), ზოგადად (zogadad)
• German: allgemein (de), gewöhnlich (de), im Allgemeinen (de)
• Indonesian: secara umum
• Italian: in genere (it), generalmente (it)
• Japanese: 広く (ひろく, hiroku), 汎く (あまねく, amaneku), 通常 (ja) (tsūjō), 一般に (ja) (ippan ni)
• Latin: plērumque
• Maltese: ġeneralment
• Middle English: generally
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: generelt (no), allment

• Occitan: generalament
• Old English: ġewunelīċe
• Polish: powszechnie (pl)
• Portuguese: geralmente (pt), em geral
• Russian: вообще́ (ru) (voobščé), широко́ (ru) (širokó)
• Scottish Gaelic: san fharsaingeachd
• Serbo-Croatian: opće
• Spanish: generalmente (es), por lo general
• Turkish: genellikle (tr)
• Yiddish: בכלל‎ (bikhlal)

as a rule; usually

• Armenian: սովորաբար (hy) (sovorabar), ընդհանրապես (hy) (əndhanrapes)
• Azerbaijani: ümumilikdə, ümumiyyətlə, ümumiyyətcə, ümumiliklə, bir qayda olaraq, ümumən
• Bashkir: ғәҙәттә (ğäðättä)
• Breton: peurvuiañ (br), peurliesañ (br)
• Bulgarian: обикновено (bg) (obiknoveno)
• Catalan: generalment (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 通常 (zh) (tōngcháng), 一般 (zh) (yībān)

• Dutch: in het algemeen
• Esperanto: ĝenerale
• Finnish: yleensä (fi), tavallisesti (fi)
• French: généralement (fr)
• Galician: xeralmente (gl)
• Georgian: როგორც წესი (rogorc c̣esi), საერთოდ (saertod), ჩვეულებრივ (čveulebriv)
• German: hauptsächlich (de), überhaupt (de), üblicherweise (de)
• Greek: συνήθως (el) (syníthos)
• Hebrew: בְּדֶּרֶךְ כְּלָל‎ (he) (b'dérech klal), בד"כ‎ (acronym)
• Hungarian: általában (hu)
• Indonesian: biasanya (id)
• Italian: in genere (it), di solito (it)
• Japanese: 通常 (ja) (tsūjō), 一般に (ja) (ippan ni)
• Latin: ferē (la), fermē
• Maori: ko te tikanga
• Middle English: generally
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vanligvis, hovedsakelig (no), som oftest

• Old English: ġewunelīċe
• Polish: zwykle (pl), zazwyczaj (pl), z reguły (pl)
• Portuguese: geralmente (pt), em geral
• Russian: обы́чно (ru) (obýčno), как пра́вило (ru) (kak právilo)
• Scottish Gaelic: san fharsaingeachd
• Serbo-Croatian: obično (sh)
• Spanish: generalmente (es), por lo general
• Swedish: i största allmänhet
• Turkish: çoğunlukla (tr)
• Ukrainian: зазвича́й (zazvyčáj), як пра́вило (jak právylo)
• Volapük: in valem
• Walloon: å pus sovint (wa)
• Yiddish: בכלל‎ (bikhlal)

without reference to specific details

• Armenian: ընդհանրապես (hy) (əndhanrapes)
• Azerbaijani: ümumilikdə, ümumiyyətlə, ümumiyyətcə, ümumiliklə
• Bashkir: дөйөм (döyöm), ғөмүмән (ğömümän)
• Bulgarian: общо взето (obšto vzeto)
• Finnish: yleisesti (fi)
• French: généralement (fr)
• Georgian: ზოგადად (zogadad), მეტწილად (meṭc̣ilad)
• German: allgemein (de), generell (de)
• Greek: γενικά (el) (geniká)
• Hungarian: általánosságban
• Indonesian: umumnya (id)
• Irish: de ghnáth
• Italian: in generale, a grandi linee
• Japanese: 通常 (ja) (tsūjō), 一般に (ja) (ippan ni), 大まかに (ōmaka ni)
• Middle English: generally
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: generelt (no), allment

• Polish: ogólnie (pl)
• Portuguese: de modo geral, em geral
• Russian: вообще́ (ru) (voobščé), по большо́му счёту (po bolʹšómu sčótu)
• Scottish Gaelic: san fharsaingeachd
• Serbo-Croatian: općenito
• Spanish: generalmente (es)
• Ukrainian: взагалі́ (uk) (vzahalí), в ціло́му (uk) (v cilómu)

Middle English

Alternative forms

• generali, generaliche, generallich, generalliche, generaly, generalyche

Etymology

From general +‎ -ly (adverbial suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌdʒɛnəˈraː(l)liː/, /ˈdʒɛnəra(l)liː/, /-liːtʃ(ə)/

Adverb

generally

1. exceptionlessly, always (without exception)
2. widely, usually (as a rule)
3. generally (without reference to detail)

Descendants

• English: generally

References

• “ǧenerāllī, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.