generic

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   applicable to an entire class or group

   is there a generic Asian mind?

2. 2
   adj

   (of drugs) not protected by trademark

   `Acetaminophen' is the generic form of the proprietary drug `Tylenol'

3. 3
   adj

   relating to or common to or descriptive of all members of a genus

   the generic name

4. 4
   adj

   Very broad; pertaining or appropriate to large classes or groups as opposed to specific instances.

   Capri pants can be a generic term for any cropped slim pants.

5. 5
   adj

   Of a product or drug, not having a brand name; nonproprietary in design or contents; fungible with the rest of its class.

   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.

6. 6
   adj

   Pertaining to genera of life instead of particular species thereof.

   Holonym: familial

7. 7
   adj

   Specifying neither masculine nor feminine; epicene; unisex.

   Words like salesperson and firefighter are generic.

8. 8
   adj

   Relating to genre.

   Both [films] test formal and generic boundaries.

Etymology

From Middle French générique, from Latin genus (“genus, kind”) + -ic; thus morphologically parallel with, and a doublet of, general.