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generally

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɹə.li/, /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.ɹə.li/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɚ.li/, /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɚ.ə.li/, /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɹə.li/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒen.ɹə.li/

Adverb

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generally (comparative more generally, superlative most generally)

  1. Popularly or widely.
    It is generally known that the Earth is round.
  3. As a rule; usually; typically; in most cases.
    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.
    • 2023 November 28, Jill Filipovic, “Opinion: Elon Musk’s Israel tour was transparently transactional and insulting”, in CNN‎[2]:
      Musk’s Israel tour was transparently transactional and frankly insulting. The antisemitic sentiment Musk endorsed had nothing to do with Israel; “replacement theory” is generally an unsupported allegation that Jews and other immigrants in the US and Europe are destroying Western civilization.
  4. 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 […]
    • 2015 December 23, Tiffany Ap and Artemis Moshtaghian, “Neglected boy shut in room with heater on dies of hyperthermia”, in CNN‎[3]:
      Autopsy results revealed that Braydon was generally malnourished and thin. His cause of death was hyperthermia due to the extreme heat, which would have “caused extreme discomfort and difficulty breathing as he died.”
  6. In the general case, without exception; in all cases.
    It is generally true that the angles of a triangle sum to 180 degrees.
  7. (obsolete) Collectively; as a whole; without omissions.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From general +‎ -ly (adverbial suffix).

Pronunciation

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

Adverb

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generally

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

Descendants

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  • English: generally

References

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