general.
Including or involving every part or member of a given or implied entity, whole, etc.; common to all, universal.
Meaning & usage
Including or involving every part or member of a given or implied entity, whole, etc.; common to all, universal.
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.
Prevalent or widespread among a given class or area; common, usual.
Not limited in use or application; applicable across a broad range.
Giving or consisting of only the most important aspects of something, ignoring minor details; indefinite.
Not of a specific class; miscellaneous.
general goods
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os Proto-Italic *genos Latin genus, generis Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis 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”).
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.
General Eisenhower was the first SACEUR.
A great strategist or tactician.
Hannibal was one of the greatest generals of the ancient world.
A general fact or proposition; a generality.
We have dealt with the generals; now let us turn to the particulars.
The head of certain religious orders, especially Dominicans or Jesuits.
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.
Synonym of admiral, a senior naval title, a great naval strategist or tactician.
Short for general servant, a maid-of-all-work, a servant able to be assigned to any task in a household.
Short for general election, a regular election for most offices in a region or country.
Sure, this candidate is the favorite in the primary among the party faithful, but how is he going to do in the general?
Short for general anesthetic, a substance used to numb most feeling throughout the body.
Short for general anesthesia, the category of substances used to numb most feeling throughout the body or an instance of such substances.
Short for general insurance, the area of the insurance industry dealing with policies for the general public.
I work in general.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os Proto-Italic *genos Latin genus, generis Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis 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”).
To lead (soldiers) as a general.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os Proto-Italic *genos Latin genus, generis Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis 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”).
In a general or collective manner or sense; in most cases; upon the whole.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os Proto-Italic *genos Latin genus, generis Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis 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”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.