generic

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generic

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• generick (obsolete)

From Middle French générique, from Latin genus (“genus, kind”) + -ic; thus morphologically parallel with, and a doublet of, general.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɪˈnɛɹɪk/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Indic) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒen(ə)ˈrɪk/
• Hyphenation: ge‧ner‧ic
• Rhymes: -ɛɹɪk

generic (comparative more generic, superlative most generic)

2. Very broad; pertaining or appropriate to large classes or groups as opposed to specific instances.

   Antonyms: specific, instantial

   Capri pants can be a generic term for any cropped slim pants.

   • 1864, Walter Bagehot, “Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Browning; or, Pure, Ornate, and Grotesque Art in English Poetry”, in The National Review, volume 19:

     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.

4. lacking in precision, often in an evasive fashion; vague; imprecise
6. (of a product or drug) not having a brand name; nonproprietary in design or contents; fungible with the rest of its class.
   • 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 August 2022:

     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.

8. (taxonomy) Pertaining to genera of life instead of particular species thereof.

   Holonym: familial

   Meronyms: infrasubspecific, infraspecific, subspecific, specific

   There are scores of generic names within the order Decapoda, which includes many sea creatures that are called shrimp.

10. Relating to gender.
12. (grammar, nonstandard) specifying neither masculine nor feminine; epicene; unisex.

    Words like salesperson and firefighter are generic.

    This included criticism of the generic use of man to include men and women.

14. (computing, of procedures) Written so as to operate on any data type, the type required being passed as a parameter.
16. (geometry, of a point) Having coordinates that are algebraically independent over the base field.
17. Relating to genre.
    • 2018, Nicole Seymour, Bad Environmentalism, page 47:

      Both test formal and generic boundaries.

18. Having no distinguishing characteristics; unoriginal

    "That movie was so generic; it was so such a bore"

• (comprehensive): broad, general, classic; see also Thesaurus:generic
• (lacking in precision): fuzzy, indefinite; see also Thesaurus:vague
• (lacking a brand): unbranded

• (antonym(s) of “comprehensive”): specific, particular, concrete; see also Thesaurus:specific
• (antonym(s) of “lacking a brand”): non-generic, proprietary, branded
• (antonym(s) of “neither masculine nor feminine”): gendered

generic (plural generics)

1. A product sold under a generic name.
2. A wine that is a combination of several wines, or made from a combination of several grape varieties.

   Synonym: blend

   Antonym: varietal

3. (grammar) A term that specifies neither male nor female.
   • 1998, Jacqueline A. Dienemann, Nursing administration: managing patient care:

     a male-centered perspective has resulted in false generics in everyday life

4. (toponymy) The part of a toponym that identifies the feature's type.

   Antonym: specific

   • 2024 July 29, “geographical names: translation”, in Writing Tips Plus‎, Ottawa: Translation Bureau, retrieved 9 November 2024:

     Where the generic of an English-language place name has been translated into French, it is essential to restore it to its original English form when translating the French document into English.

• gender
• genus

• energic

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

generic m (feminine singular generica, masculine plural generics, feminine plural genericas)

1. generic

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 348.

Borrowed from French générique.

• IPA^(key): /dʒeˈne.rik/

generic m or n (feminine singular generică, masculine plural generici, feminine and neuter plural generice)

1. generic

generic n (plural generice)

1. (television, film) credits, titles

• “generic”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025