generally
English
Etymology
From Middle English generally, generalliche, equivalent to general + -ly.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɹə.liː/, IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.ɹə.li/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɚ.li/, IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɚ.ə.li/
Audio (US) (file)
Adverb
generally (comparative more generally, superlative most generally)
- Popularly or widely.
- It is generally known that the Earth is round.
- As a rule; usually.
- I generally have a walk in the afternoon.
- 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond
- 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 222716698, 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.
- Without reference to specific details.
- Generally speaking …
- 1848, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son
- “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 […]
- “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.”
- In the general case, without exception.
- It is generally true that the angles of a triangle sum to 180 degrees.
- (obsolete) Collectively; as a whole; without omissions.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 2 Samuel 17:11:}
- I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee.
-
Synonyms
- (popularly or widely): commonly
- (as a rule; usually): basically, by and large, commonly, ordinarily, mostly, regularly, wontedly; see also Thesaurus:mostly or Thesaurus:usually or Thesaurus:normally
- (without reference to specific details): generically; see also Thesaurus:generally
- (collectively): collaboratively, en masse; see also Thesaurus:jointly
Derived terms
- generally speaking
Translations
popularly or widely
|
as a rule; usually
|
without reference to specific details
|
Middle English
Alternative forms
- generali, generaliche, generallich, generalliche, generaly, generalyche
Etymology
From general + -ly (adverbial suffix).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˌdʒɛnəˈraː(l)liː/, /ˈdʒɛnəra(l)liː/, /-liːtʃ(ə)/
Adverb
generally
- exceptionlessly, always (without exception)
- widely, usually (as a rule)
- generally (without reference to detail)
Descendants
- English: generally
References
- “ǧenerāllī, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.