generic

See also: genèric

English

Alternative forms

• generick (obsolete)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os

Proto-Italic *genos

Latin genus, generis

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Indo-European *-ikos

Proto-Italic *-ikos

Latin -icuslbor.

Old French -ique

Middle French -ique

Middle French générique

English generic

From Middle French générique, from Latin genus (“genus, kind”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʒɪˈnɛɹ.ɪk/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

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

Adjective

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.
   • 1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume I: The Founders, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: powstanie (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 176:

     Having in mind Marx's conception of reason as a practical organ of collective existence, and of the object as something defined though not objectivized by reason, we may describe his epistemology as one of generic subjectivism.

6. (pharmacology) 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^[2], →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. (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.

12. (computing) Of a procedure, written so as to operate on any data type, the type required being passed as a parameter.
14. (geometry) Of a point, having coordinates that are algebraically independent over the base field.
15. Relating to genre.
    • 2018, Nicole Seymour, Bad Environmentalism, page 47:

      Both [films] test formal and generic boundaries.

16. Having no distinguishing characteristics; unoriginal.

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

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

• (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

Derived terms

• bigeneric
• biogeneric
• cogeneric
• extrageneric
• Generica
• generically
• generic class
• generic element
• generic epithet
• generic function
• genericide
• generic interval
• genericise
• genericism
• genericity
• genericization
• genericize
• generic masculine
• generic name
• genericness
• generic platformer
• generic programming
• generic property
• generic term
• generic they
• generic top-level domain
• generic type
• generic you
• generify
• heterogeneric
• infrageneric
• intergeneric
• intrageneric
• monogeneric
• multigeneric
• nongeneric
• nongenerically
• nongenericness
• polygeneric
• pseudogeneric
• quadrigeneric
• semigeneric
• subgeneric
• supergeneric
• suprageneric
• trigeneric
• ungeneric
• unigeneric

Translations

very comprehensive

• Arabic: إِجْمالِيّ (ʔijmāliyy), جامِع (jāmiʕ), شامِل (šāmil), شُمُولِيّ (ar) (šumūliyy), عامّ (ʕāmm), عُمُومِيّ (ʕumūmiyy), عَمِيم (ʕamīm), 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 (gl) 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 (pl)
• 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)
• Indonesian: generik (id)
• 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
• 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 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^[3], 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.

Translations

a product sold under a generic name

• Finnish: geneerinen tuote
• French: médicament générique (fr) m, produit générique m
• Galician: xenérico (gl) 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)

part of a toponym that identifies the feature's type

• French: générique (fr) m

Related terms

• gender
• genus

Anagrams

• energic

Occitan

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Adjective

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

1. generic

Further reading

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana‎^[4], L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2026, page 348

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os

Proto-Italic *genos

Latin genus, generis

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Indo-European *-ikos

Proto-Italic *-ikos

Latin -icuslbor.

Old French -ique

Middle French -ique

French -ique

French génériquebor.

Romanian generic

Borrowed from French générique.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʒeˈne.rik/

Adjective

generic m or n (feminine singular generică, masculine plural generici, feminine/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

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	generic	genericul	generice	genericele
genitive-dative	generic	genericului	generice	genericelor
vocative	genericule		genericelor

Further reading

• “generic”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026