a. [ F. général, fr. L. generalis. See Genus. ] 1. Relating to a genus or kind; pertaining to a whole class or order; as, a general law of animal or vegetable economy. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Comprehending many species or individuals; not special or particular; including all particulars; as, a general inference or conclusion. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Not restrained or limited to a precise import; not specific; vague; indefinite; lax in signification; as, a loose and general expression. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Common to many, or the greatest number; widely spread; prevalent; extensive, though not universal; as, a general opinion; a general custom. [ 1913 Webster ]

This general applause and cheerful shout
Argue your wisdom and your love to Richard. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Having a relation to all; common to the whole; as, Adam, our general sire. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. As a whole; in gross; for the most part. [ 1913 Webster ]

His general behavior vain, ridiculous. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Usual; common, on most occasions; as, his general habit or method. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The word general, annexed to a name of office, usually denotes chief or superior; as, attorney-general; adjutant general; commissary general; quartermaster general; vicar-general, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

General agent (Law), an agent whom a principal employs to transact all his business of a particular kind, or to act in his affairs generally. --
General assembly. See the Note under Assembly. --
General average,
General Court. See under Average, Court. --
General court-martial (Mil.), the highest military and naval judicial tribunal. --
General dealer (Com.), a shopkeeper who deals in all articles in common use. --
General demurrer (Law), a demurrer which objects to a pleading in general terms, as insufficient, without specifying the defects. Abbott. --
General epistle, a canonical epistle. --
General guides (Mil.), two sergeants (called the right, and the left, general guide) posted opposite the right and left flanks of an infantry battalion, to preserve accuracy in marching. Farrow. --
General hospitals (Mil.), hospitals established to receive sick and wounded sent from the field hospitals. Farrow.
General issue (Law), an issue made by a general plea, which traverses the whole declaration or indictment at once, without offering any special matter to evade it. Bouvier. Burrill. --
General lien (Law), a right to detain a chattel, etc., until payment is made of any balance due on a general account. --
General officer (Mil.), any officer having a rank above that of colonel. --
General orders (Mil.), orders from headquarters published to the whole command. --
General practitioner, in the United States, one who practices medicine in all its branches without confining himself to any specialty; in England, one who practices both as physician and as surgeon. --
General ship, a ship not chartered or let to particular parties. --
General term (Logic), a term which is the sign of a general conception or notion. --
General verdict (Law), the ordinary comprehensive verdict in civil actions, “for the plaintiff” or “for the defendant”. Burrill. --
General warrant (Law), a warrant, now illegal, to apprehend suspected persons, without naming individuals.

Syn. General, Common, Universal. Common denotes primarily that in which many share; and hence, that which is often met with. General is stronger, denoting that which pertains to a majority of the individuals which compose a genus, or whole. Universal, that which pertains to all without exception. To be able to read and write is so common an attainment in the United States, that we may pronounce it general, though by no means universal. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. général. See General., a. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The whole; the total; that which comprehends or relates to all, or the chief part; -- opposed to particular. [ 1913 Webster ]

In particulars our knowledge begins, and so spreads itself by degrees to generals. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mil.) One of the chief military officers of a government or country; the commander of an army, of a body of men not less than a brigade. In European armies, the highest military rank next below field marshal. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In the United States the office of General of the Army has been created by temporary laws, and has been held only by Generals U. S. Grant, W. T. Sherman, and P. H. Sheridan. Popularly, the title General is given to various general officers, as General, Lieutenant general, Major general, Brigadier general, Commissary general, etc. See Brigadier general, Lieutenant general, Major general, in the Vocabulary. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mil.) The roll of the drum which calls the troops together; as, to beat the general. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Eccl.) The chief of an order of monks, or of all the houses or congregations under the same rule. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The public; the people; the vulgar. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

In general, in the main; for the most part. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ Neut. pl., fr. L. generalis. ] Generalities; general terms. J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. same as generalize. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ It., superl. of generale general. See General, a. ] The chief commander of an army; especially, the commander in chief of an army consisting of two or more grand divisions under separate commanders; -- a title used in most foreign countries. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Generalities [ L. generalitas: cf. F. généralité. Cf. Generalty. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The state of being general; the quality of including species or particulars. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is general; that which lacks specificalness, practicalness, or application; a general or vague statement or phrase. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let us descend from generalities to particulars. Landor. [ 1913 Webster ]

The glittering and sounding generalities of natural right which make up the Declaration of Independence. R. Choate. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The main body; the bulk; the greatest part; as, the generality of a nation, or of mankind. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being generalized, or reduced to a general form of statement, or brought under a general rule. [ 1913 Webster ]

Extreme cases are . . . not generalizable. Coleridge [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. généralisation. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The act or process of generalizing; the act of bringing individuals or particulars under a genus or class; deduction of a general principle from particulars. [ 1913 Webster ]

Generalization is only the apprehension of the one in the many. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A general inference. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To form into a genus; to view objects in their relations to a genus or class; to take general or comprehensive views. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Generalized p. pr. & vb. n. Generalizing ] [ Cf. F. généraliser. ] [ Also spelled generalise. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To bring under a genus or under genera; to view in relation to a genus or to genera. [ 1913 Webster ]

Copernicus generalized the celestial motions by merely referring them to the moon's motion. Newton generalized them still more by referring this last to the motion of a stone through the air. W. Nicholson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To apply to other genera or classes; to use with a more extensive application; to extend so as to include all special cases; to make universal in application, as a formula or rule. [ 1913 Webster ]

When a fact is generalized, our discontent is quited, and we consider the generality itself as tantamount to an explanation. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To derive or deduce (a general conception, or a general principle) from particulars. [ wns=2 ]
Syn. -- generalize, extrapolate, infer. [ 1913 Webster ]

A mere conclusion generalized from a great multitude of facts. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To speak in generalities; to talk in abstract terms. [ wns=1 ]
Syn. -- generalise, speak generally. [ WordNet 1.5 ]