Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Relating to or descriptive of an entire group or class.
- adjective Lacking specificity; general.
- adjective Biology Of or relating to a genus.
- adjective Relating to or being a product that is sold or distributed without any brand name or without a widely known brand name, especially as a discount alternative to a name-brand product.
- adjective Relating to or being the official nonproprietary name of a drug, under which it is licensed and identified by the manufacturer.
- adjective Grammar Specifying neither masculine nor feminine gender.
- noun A product or substance sold under or identified by a generic name.
- noun A wine that is a blend of several grape varieties and does not carry the name of any specific grape.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Pertaining to, of the nature of, or forming a mark of a genus, or a kind or group of similar things; comprehending a number of like things, without specifying them: opposed to specific. See
genus . - Specifically In zoology and botany, having the taxonomic rank or classificatory value of a genus: as, a generic name or description; generic characters or differences; generic identity.
- Relating to gender. See
gender . - Of a general nature; applicable or referring to any unit of the kind or class; general; not special.
- Distinctly characteristic; so marked as to constitute or denote a distinct kind.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective (Biol.) Pertaining to a genus or kind; relating to a genus, as distinct from a species, or from another genus
- adjective Very comprehensive; pertaining or appropriate to large classes or their characteristics; -- opposed to
specific . - adjective (Commerce) Not protected by trademark; -- used especially of the names of medications.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Very
comprehensive ; pertaining or appropriate to largeclasses orgroups as opposed tospecific . - adjective Lacking in precision, often in and
evasive fashion;vague ;imprecise . - adjective Not having a
brand name . - adjective biology, not comparable Of, or relating to a taxonomic
genus . - adjective grammar Specifying neither
masculine norfeminine ;epicene . - adjective computing (Of program code) Written so as to operate on any
data type , the type required being passed as aparameter . - noun A
product sold under a generic name - noun A
wine that is ablend of several wines, or made from a blend of severalgrape varieties - noun grammar A term that specifies neither
male norfemale .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a wine that is a blend of several varieties of grapes with no one grape predominating; a wine that does not carry the name of any specific grape
- adjective relating to or common to or descriptive of all members of a genus
- adjective applicable to an entire class or group
- adjective (of drugs) not protected by trademark
- noun any product that can be sold without a brand name
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The arbiter appears to the undersigned to have viewed the rivers St. John and Restigouche as possessing both a specific and a generic character; that considered _alone_ they were _specific_ ', and the designation in the treaty of "rivers falling into the Atlantic" was inapplicable to them; that considered _In connection with other rivers_ they were _generic_ and were embraced in the terms of the treaty, but that as their connection with other rivers would bring them within a principle which, according to the views taken by him of other parts of the question, was equally realized by both lines, it would be hazardous to allow them any weight in deciding the disputed boundary.
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents Volume 3, part 2: Martin Van Buren 1878
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But the former's concentration on strategy content does not change our conclusion: in fact, the term generic strategy is one of the most popular in the literature of positioning e.g., Porter, 1980,1985.
The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning HENRY MINTZBERG 1994
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But the former's concentration on strategy content does not change our conclusion: in fact, the term generic strategy is one of the most popular in the literature of positioning e.g., Porter, 1980,1985.
The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning HENRY MINTZBERG 1994
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Crazy, Stupid, Love opened a day before it did in the U.S., the Spanish title Warner Bros. originally affixed to prints was Loco Por Amor Crazy for Love, a moniker generic enough that it could easily have been attached to any Hollywood rom-com of the last 40 years.
NPR Topics: News 2011
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In my community college English classes, I sometimes rail against what I call the generic paper, the kind of response essay that could be written by just about anybody because it is void of even a modicum of individuality.
Joseph Smigelski: The Power of Memory: Use It in Your Writing 2010
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In my community college English classes, I sometimes rail against what I call the generic paper, the kind of response essay that could be written by just about anybody because it is void of even a modicum of individuality.
Joseph Smigelski: The Power of Memory: Use It in Your Writing 2010
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So what we have done, in addition, is propose a set of what I call generic sanctions for engaging in corporate tax shelter activity as a way of trying to deter that activity more generally.
Budget Briefing By Administration Officials ITY National Archives 1999
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"We don't think it's sufficient to build what we refer to as generic state universities,"
azcentral.com | news Gary Nelson 2010
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We recognized the need for what we called a generic structured cabling document.
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Unfortunately DSB has one of the most cliched plots IMO (what I call generic anime #2).
bilby commented on the word generic
"J.T. Tillman was in that line. A computer specialist for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, he remembers every single number he played that day -- 10 of them, $2 apiece, for a total of $20. He doesn't recall what the violinist was playing, though. He says it sounded like generic classical music, the kind the ship's band was playing in 'Titanic,' before the iceberg."
- Gene Weingarten, Pearls Before Breakfast, The Washington Post, 8 April 2007.
March 9, 2009