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

• IPA^(key): /dʒᵻˈnɛ.ɹɪk/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Indic) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒɛnᵊ.rɪk/, /dʒᵻˈnɛ.rɪk/
• 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.
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. Relating to gender.
12. (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.

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

      Both [films] test formal and generic boundaries.

18. Having no distinguishing characteristics; unoriginal.

    "That movie was so generic; it was so 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 name
• genericness
• 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
• 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)
• 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, 2008-2025, page 348

Romanian

Etymology

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