generic en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /dʒɪˈnɛɹ.ɪk/
Etymology
From Middle French générique, from Latin genus (“genus, kind”) + -ic.
Meanings
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Very broad; pertaining or appropriate to large classes or groups as opposed to specific instances.
Capri pants can be a generic term for any cropped slim pants.
[…] the essence is that such self-describing poets describe what is in them, but not peculiar to them, – what is generic, not what is special and individual.
1864, Walter Bagehot, “Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Browning; or, Pure, Ornate, and Grotesque Art in English Poetry”, in The National Review, volume 19:
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Lacking in precision, often in an evasive fashion; vague; imprecise.
Having in mind Marx's conception of reason as a practical organ of collective existence, and of the object as something defined though not objectivized by reason, we may describe his epistemology as one of generic subjectivism.
1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume I: The Founders, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: powstanie (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 176:
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Of a product or drug, not having a brand name; nonproprietary in design or contents; fungible with the rest of its class.
The four-and-one-half-day trial was centered on acts that neither she nor prosecutors dispute: On July 13, 2012, she drove her Lexus S.U.V. erratically after swallowing Zolpidem, a generic form of the sleep medication Ambien.
2014 February 28, Joseph Berger, “Fast Acquittal for Kennedy, Whose Name Put Prosecutors in Bind”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2022:
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Pertaining to genera of life instead of particular species thereof.
There are scores of generic names within the order Decapoda, which includes many sea creatures that are called shrimp.
Meronyms: infrasubspecific, infraspecific, subspecific, specific
Holonym: familial
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(nonstandard) Specifying neither masculine nor feminine; epicene; unisex.
This included criticism of the generic use of man to include men and women.
Words like salesperson and firefighter are generic.
- Of a procedure, written so as to operate on any data type, the type required being passed as a parameter.
- Of a point, having coordinates that are algebraically independent over the base field.
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Relating to genre.
Both [films] test formal and generic boundaries.
2018, Nicole Seymour, Bad Environmentalism, page 47:
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Having no distinguishing characteristics; unoriginal.
That movie was so generic; it was such a bore!
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most generic | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more generic | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| generick | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic |
Antonyms
gendered (antonym(s) of “neither masculine nor feminine”) · specific · proprietary (antonym(s) of “lacking a brand”) · specific (antonym(s) of) · concrete · non-generic (antonym(s) of “lacking a brand”) · branded (antonym(s) of “lacking a brand”) · instantial · particular
Deriveds
pseudogeneric · generic interval · genericness · generically · nongenericness · generic function · suprageneric · generic term · polygeneric · supergeneric · heterogeneric · multigeneric · generic top-level domain · genericism · generic type · genericise · generic property · extrageneric · genericize · semigeneric · nongeneric · generic epithet · Generica · intrageneric · infrageneric · genericide · generify · cogeneric · quadrigeneric · nongenerically · genericization · generic they · generic name · biogeneric · generic element · bigeneric · generic class · trigeneric · monogeneric · generic programming · generic platformer · genericity · generic you · generic masculine · unigeneric · intergeneric · subgeneric
Relateds
Synonyms
indefinite · ecumenical · unparticular · universal · unsingular · fuzzy (lacking in precision) · unspecific · nonsingular · catholic · classic · broad (comprehensive) · generic · nonspecific · common · unbranded (lacking a brand) · general
Translations (87)
no merkelo (not having a brand name) · id generik (very comprehensive) · ka ზოგადი (specifying neither masculine nor feminine e.g. salesperson) · bg родов (of, or relating to a genus) · es genérico (not having a brand name) · ru безма́рочный (not having a brand name) · ar إِجْمالِيّ (very comprehensive) · el γενικός (very comprehensive) · pl niemarkowy (not having a brand name) · no s (not having a brand name) · tr cinsle ilgili (of, or relating to a genus) · no ytral (specifying neither masculine nor feminine e.g. salesperson) · pt genérico (very comprehensive) · fi geneerinen (very comprehensive) · tr genelleyici (very comprehensive) · de allgemein (very comprehensive) · de Generikum (not having a brand name) · de arttypisch (of, or relating to a genus) · nl generiek (not having a brand name) · ar كُلِّيّ (very comprehensive) · ka სახეობრივი (of, or relating to a genus) · ar مُطْلَق (very comprehensive) · de generisch (very comprehensive) · fi suku- (of, or relating to a genus) · no generisk (very comprehensive) · gl xenérico (very comprehensive) · io generala (very comprehensive) · pt genérico (of, or relating to a genus) · pt genérico (not having a brand name) · pt genérico ((computing) written so as to operate on any data type) · ar شامِل (very comprehensive) · pl ogólny (very comprehensive) · ru обобщённый ((computing) written so as to operate on any data type) · ar مُحِيط (very comprehensive) · nl generiek (very comprehensive) · fr générique (very comprehensive) · id generik ((computing) written so as to operate on any data type) · ka საერთო (very comprehensive) · ar عَمِيم (very comprehensive) · ka საზოგადო (very comprehensive) · fi yleis- (very comprehensive) · fa همگانیک ((computing) written so as to operate on any data type) · ru видово́й (of, or relating to a genus) · id generik (not having a brand name) · no nnsno (specifying neither masculine nor feminine e.g. salesperson) · tr soya özgü (of, or relating to a genus) · ar عامّ (very comprehensive) · tr familyaya āit (of, or relating to a genus) · bg обширен (very comprehensive) · ru нема́рочный (not having a brand name) · ru о́бщий (specifying neither masculine nor feminine e.g. salesperson) · de gattungsmäßig (of, or relating to a genus) · ru о́бщий (very comprehensive) · ru родово́й (of, or relating to a genus) · ka ზოგადი (very comprehensive) · no generisk (not having a brand name) · no kjo (specifying neither masculine nor feminine e.g. salesperson) · es genérico (very comprehensive) · bg неспецифичен (very comprehensive) · tr eşdeğer (of, or relating to a genus) · tr soya mahsus (of, or relating to a genus) · de typisch (very comprehensive) · pl uogólniony (very comprehensive) · pl rodzajowy (of, or relating to a genus) · ar عُمُومِيّ (very comprehensive) · tr kapsamlı (very comprehensive) · fi yleinen (very comprehensive) · ru всео́бщий (very comprehensive) · ar شُمُولِيّ (very comprehensive) · ka განზოგადებული (very comprehensive) · ka შაბლონური (not having a brand name) · ru обобщённый (very comprehensive) · tr üreysel ((computing) written so as to operate on any data type) · ca genèric (very comprehensive) · de generisch ((computing) written so as to operate on any data type) · no generisk (of, or relating to a genus) · gd gneitheach (of, or relating to a genus) · fr générique (not having a brand name) · ka გვაროვნული (of, or relating to a genus) · tr jenerik ((computing) written so as to operate on any data type) · ca genèric (not having a brand name) · de artmäßig (of, or relating to a genus) · el γενόσημο (not having a brand name) · el ουδέτερο (specifying neither masculine nor feminine e.g. salesperson) · pl pospolity (very comprehensive) · pl bezmarkowy (not having a brand name) · ar جامِع (very comprehensive)