general

B1 Topic:People & Society

Also spelled generl

US /ˈd͡ʒen.(ə.)ɹəl/ UK /ˈd͡ʒɛn.(ə.)ɹəl/ See IPA manual

adj noun verb Freq #724

Meanings

1

adj
Relating to the main parts of something rather than the details.

She gave us a general idea of the plan without going into specifics.
2

adj
Affecting or involving all or most people or things.

There was general agreement that the meeting had been a success.
3

adj
Not limited to one subject or area; broad.

He studied general science before choosing to focus on physics.
4

noun
A very high-ranking officer in the army.

The general gave the order for the troops to advance.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 adj · affecting or involving all... common universal

Word family

Forms generals

Related forms hetman

Common collocations

Etymology

From Middle English general, in turn from Anglo-Norman general, generall, Middle French general, and their source, Latin generālis, from genus (“class, kind”) + -ālis (“-al”); thus morphologically parallel with, and a doublet of, generic.

*ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European general Middle English generālis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

# general

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj, noun, verb
**IPA (US):** ˈd͡ʒen.(ə.)ɹəl
**IPA (UK):** ˈd͡ʒɛn.(ə.)ɹəl
**Frequency rank:** 724

## Meanings
1. Relating to the main parts of something rather than the details.
2. Affecting or involving all or most people or things.
3. Not limited to one subject or area; broad.
4. A very high-ranking officer in the army.

## Examples
- She gave us a general idea of the plan without going into specifics.
- There was general agreement that the meeting had been a success.
- He studied general science before choosing to focus on physics.
- The general gave the order for the troops to advance.

## Related Forms
- hetman

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *ǵenh₁-
- Root: general
- Root: generālis

## Etymology
From Middle English general, in turn from Anglo-Norman general, generall, Middle French general, and their source, Latin generālis, from genus (“class, kind”) + -ālis (“-al”); thus morphologically parallel with, and a doublet of, generic.

## AI Etymology
General comes from Middle English general, in turn from Anglo-Norman general, generall, Middle French general, and their source, Latin generālis, from genus (“class, kind”) + -ālis (“-al”); thus morphologically parallel with, and a doublet of, generic. In current use, the main senses are “Relating to the main parts of something rather than the details” and “Affecting or involving all or most people or things”.

## Topics
- People & Society

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