generality

gen·er·al·i·ty

(jĕn′ə-răl′ĭ-tē)

n. pl. gen·er·al·i·ties

1. The state or quality of being general.

2. An observation or principle having general application; a generalization.

3. An imprecise or vague statement or idea.

4. The greater portion or number; the majority.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

generality

(ˌdʒɛnəˈrælɪtɪ)

n, pl -ties

1. a principle or observation having general application, esp when imprecise or unable to be proved

2. the state or quality of being general

3. archaic the majority

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

gen•er•al•i•ty

(ˌdʒɛn əˈræl ɪ ti)

n., pl. -ties.

1. an indefinite, unspecific, or undetailed statement: to talk in generalities.

2. a general principle, rule, or law.

3. the greater part or majority: the generality of people.

4. the state or quality of being general.

[1400–50; late Middle English < Latin]

Generality

the majority; the main body; people in general; the generals of an army collectively.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	generality - an idea or conclusion having general application; "he spoke in broad generalities" generalisation, generalization idea, thought - the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about; "it was not a good idea"; "the thought never entered my mind" principle, rule - a basic generalization that is accepted as true and that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct; "their principles of composition characterized all their works"
	2.	generality - the quality of being general or widespread or having general applicability quality - an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone; "the quality of mercy is not strained"--Shakespeare commonality, commonness - sharing of common attributes pervasiveness - the quality of filling or spreading throughout; "the pervasiveness of the odor of cabbage in tenement hallways" prevalence - the quality of prevailing generally; being widespread; "he was surprised by the prevalence of optimism about the future" universality, catholicity - the quality of being universal; existing everywhere totality - the quality of being complete and indiscriminate; "the totality of war and its consequences"; "the all-embracing totality of the state" particularity, specialness - the quality of being particular and pertaining to a specific case or instance; "the particularity of human situations"

generality

noun

1. generalization, abstraction, sweeping statement, vague notion, loose statement He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.

2. impreciseness, vagueness, looseness, lack of detail, inexactitude, woolliness, indefiniteness, approximateness, inexactness, lack of preciseness There are problems with this definition, given its level of generality.

3. majority, most, mass, bulk, best part, greater number When the generality of the electorate is doing badly, the mood is pessimisitic.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

γενικότητα

generalità

generalidade

generality

[ˌdʒenəˈrælɪtɪ] N [of rule, belief] → generalidad f
to talk in generalities → hablar en términos generales

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

generality

[ˌdʒɛnəˈrælɪti] n

(= general statement) → généralité f
to talk in generalities → dire des généralités

(= unspecific nature) → généralité f

(= majority) → plupart f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

generality

to talk in generalities → ganz allgemein sprechen

(= general quality) → Allgemeinheit f; (= general applicability) → Allgemeingültigkeit f; a rule of great generality → eine fast überall anwendbare Regel

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

generality

[ˌdʒɛnəˈrælɪtɪ] n (frm) → principio generale
to talk in generalities → parlare in termini generici

References in classic literature ?

Now in the generality of free states, the governors and the governed alternately change place; for an equality without any preference is what nature chooses; however, when one governs and another is governed, she endeavours that there should be a distinction between them in forms, expressions, and honours; according to what Amasis said of his laver.

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The generality of men which are simple and illiterate never pretend to ABSTRACT NOTIONS.

And as the former owes its generality not to its being the sign of an abstract or general line, but of all particular right lines that may possibly exist, so the latter must be thought to derive its generality from the same cause, namely, the various particular lines which it indifferently denotes." *

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Let OUR first effusions be less insupportable than those of the generality of travellers."

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His face too was accounted handsome by the generality of women, for it was broad and ruddy, with tolerably good teeth.

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The most to be expected from the generality of men, in such a situation, is the negative merit of not doing harm, instead of the positive merit of doing good.

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For myself, I have never fancied my mind to be in any respect more perfect than those of the generality; on the contrary, I have often wished that I were equal to some others in promptitude of thought, or in clearness and distinctness of imagination, or in fullness and readiness of memory.

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Their uninvited guest, unlike the generality of his tribe, was somewhat dirty as well as ragged and they had no relish for such a messmate.

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I had worn, when I quitted the ship, a pair of thick pumps, which, from the rough usage they had received in scaling precipices and sliding down gorges, were so dilapidated as to be altogether unfit for use--so, at least, would have thought the generality of people, and so they most certainly were, when considered in the light of shoes.

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Nay, are there not now creatures of a vastness of bulk regarded by the generality of men as impossible?

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"I wish I could fix my mind on what I hear there more firmly than I do," she remarked as a safe generality. "It is often a great sorrow to me."

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Catherine began to feel something of disappointment -- she was tired of being continually pressed against by people, the generality of whose faces possessed nothing to interest, and with all of whom she was so wholly unacquainted that she could not relieve the irksomeness of imprisonment by the exchange of a syllable with any of her fellow captives; and when at last arrived in the tea-room, she felt yet more the awkwardness of having no party to join, no acquaintance to claim, no gentleman to assist them.