generic

generic

See also: genèric

English

Alternative forms

• generick (obsolete)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dʒɪˈnɛɹɪk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ge‧ner‧ic
• Rhymes: -ɛɹɪk

Adjective

generic (comparative more generic, superlative most generic)

1. Very comprehensive; pertaining or appropriate to large classes or groups (genera) as opposed to specific instances.

   Antonyms: specific, instantial

   • 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.

   "Shrimp" is the generic name for a number of species of sea creature.

   1. (taxonomy) 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.

      Antonym: specific

2. lacking in precision, often in an evasive fashion; vague; imprecise
3. (of a product or drug) not having a brand name; nonproprietary in design or contents; fungible with the rest of its class.
4. Relating to gender.
5. (grammar) specifying neither masculine nor feminine; epicene; unisex.

   Words like salesperson and firefighter are generic.

6. (computing, of procedures) Written so as to operate on any data type, the type required being passed as a parameter.
7. (geometry, of a point) Having coordinates that are algebraically independent over the base field.

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

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

Derived terms

• generic class
• generic element
• generic function
• generic interval
• genericity
• generic name
• genericness
• generic programming
• generic property
• generic top-level domain
• generic type
• generic you

 

Translations

very comprehensive

Arabic: إِجْمالِيّ‎ (ʾijmāliyy), جامِع‎ (jāmiʿ), شامِل‎ (šāmil), شُمُولِيّ‎ (ar) (šumūliyy), عامّ‎ (ʿāmm), عُمُومِيّ‎ (ʿumūmiyy), عَمِيم‎ (ʿamīm), كُلِّيّ‎ (kulliyy), مُحِيط‎ (ar) (muḥīṭ), مُطْلَق‎ (ar) (muṭlaq) Bulgarian: обширен (bg) (obširen), неспецифичен (nespecifičen) Catalan: genèric Dutch: generiek (nl) Finnish: yleinen (fi), yleis-, geneerinen (fi) French: générique (fr) Galician: xenérico m Georgian: ზოგადი (zogadi), საზოგადო (sazogado), განზოგადებული (ganzogadebuli), საერთო (saerto) German: allgemein (de), generisch (de), typisch (de) Greek: γενικός (el) m (genikós) Ido: generala (io) Indonesian: generik (id) Norwegian: generisk Polish: ogólny (pl), pospolity (pl), uogólniony Portuguese: genérico (pt) Russian: о́бщий (ru) (óbščij), обобщённый (ru) (obobščónnyj) (generalized), всео́бщий (ru) (vseóbščij) (general, universal) Spanish: genérico (es) Turkish: genelleyici (tr), kapsamlı (tr)

of, or relating to a genus

Bulgarian: родов (bg) (rodov) Finnish: suku- Georgian: გვაროვნული (gvarovnuli), სახეობრივი (saxeobrivi) German: artmäßig, gattungsmäßig, arttypisch Norwegian: generisk Polish: rodzajowy Portuguese: genérico (pt) Russian: родово́й (ru) (rodovój), видово́й (ru) (vidovój) Scottish Gaelic: gneitheach Turkish: cinsle ilgili, eşdeğer, familyaya āit, soya mahsus, soya özgü

not having a brand name

Catalan: genèric Dutch: generiek (nl) French: générique (fr) Georgian: შაბლონური (šablonuri) German: Generikum (de) n Greek: γενόσημο (el) n (genósimo) (of a drug) Norwegian: merkelo/s, generisk Polish: niemarkowy, bezmarkowy Portuguese: genérico (pt) Russian: нема́рочный (ru) (nemáročnyj), безма́рочный (bezmáročnyj) Spanish: genérico (es) (of a drug)

specifying neither masculine nor feminine e.g. salesperson

Georgian: ზოგადი (zogadi) Greek: ουδέτερο (el) n (oudétero) Norwegian: kjo/nnsno/ytral Russian: о́бщий (ru) (óbščij)

(computing) written so as to operate on any data type

German: generisch (de) Indonesian: generik (id) Persian: همگانیک‎ (fa) Portuguese: genérico (pt) Russian: обобщённый (ru) (obobščónnyj) Turkish: jenerik (tr), üreysel

Noun

generic (plural generics)

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

Translations

a product sold under a generic name

Finnish: geneerinen tuote French: médicament générique (fr) m, produit générique m Galician: xenérico m Georgian: ჯენერიკი (ǯeneriḳi), არაგამორჩეული პროდუქტი (aragamorčeuli ṗrodukṭi) Greek: γενόσημος (el) m (genósimos) Portuguese: genérico (pt) m Russian: джене́рик (ru) m (dženɛ́rik), джене́рик (ru) m (dženérik) (medicine), непатенто́ванное лека́рственное сре́дство n (nepatentóvannoje lekárstvennoje srédstvo), нема́рочный/безма́рочный това́р m (nemáročnyj/bezmáročnyj továr)

a wine that is a blend of several wines, or made from a blend of several grape varieties

Russian: нема́рочное вино́ n (nemáročnoje vinó)

Related terms

• gender
• genus

Anagrams

• energic

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French générique.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʒeˈne.rik/

Adjective

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

1. generic

Declension

Declension of generic

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	generic		generică	generici	generice
	definite	genericul		generica	genericii	genericele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	generic		generice	generici	generice
	definite	genericului		genericei	genericilor	genericelor

Noun

generic n (plural generice)

1. (television, film) credits, titles

Declension

Declension of generic

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) generic	genericul	(niște) generice	genericele
genitive/dative	(unui) generic	genericului	(unor) generice	genericelor
vocative	genericule		genericelor