Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

gen·er·al       (jěn'ər-əl)  Pronunciation Key  adj.   Concerned with, applicable to, or affecting the whole or every member of a class or category: "subduing all her impressions as a woman, to something more general" (Virginia Woolf). Affecting or characteristic of the majority of those involved; prevalent: general discontent. Of or affecting the entire body: general paralysis. Being usually the case; true or applicable in most instances but not all: the general correctness of her decisions. Not limited in scope, area, or application: as a general rule. Not limited to or dealing with one class of things; diversified: general studies. Involving only the main features rather than precise details: a general grasp of the subject. Highest or superior in rank: the general manager. n.   Abbr. GEN or Gen or Gen. A commissioned rank in the U.S. Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps that is above lieutenant general. One who holds this rank or a similar rank in another military organization. A general officer. A statement, principle, or fact that embraces or is applicable to the whole. General anesthesia. Archaic The public. [Middle English, from Latin generālis, from genus, gener-, kind; see genə- in Indo-European roots.] gen'er·al·ness n. Synonyms: These adjectives mean belonging to, relating to, or affecting the whole: the general welfare; a common enemy; generic likenesses; universal military conscription. Antonym: particular

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
general  (adj.)

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

general
adjective
1.	applying to all or most members of a category or group; "the general public"; "general assistance"; "a general rule"; "in general terms"; "comprehensible to the general reader" [ant: specific]
2.	not specialized or limited to one class of things; "general studies"; "general knowledge"
3.	prevailing among and common to the general public; "the general discontent"
4.	affecting the entire body; "a general anesthetic"; "general symptoms" [ant: local]
5.	somewhat indefinite; "bearing a general resemblance to the original"; "a general description of the merchandise"
6.	of worldwide scope or applicability; "an issue of cosmopolitan import"; "the shrewdest political and ecumenical comment of our time"- Christopher Morley; "universal experience" [syn: cosmopolitan]
noun
1.	a general officer of the highest rank
2.	the head of a religious order or congregation
3.	a fact about the whole (as opposed to particular); "he discussed the general but neglected the particular" [ant: particular]
verb
1.	command as a general; "We are generaled by an incompetent!"

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: gen·er·al
Pronunciation: 'jen-(&-)r&l
Function: adjective
1 : not confined by specialization or careful limitationgeneral surgeon>
2 : belonging to the common nature of a group of like individuals general characteristics of a species>
3 : involving or affecting practically the entire organism : not local <general nervousness>

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: gen·er·al
Pronunciation: 'jen-r&l, 'je-n&-
Function: adjective
1 : involving, applicable to, or affecting the whole
2 : involving, relating to, or applicable to every member of a class, kind, or group
3 : not confined by specialization or limitation
4 : relating to,determined by, or concerned with main elements rather than limiting details <a general resemblance>
5 : holding superior rank or taking precedence over others similarlytitled <the general manager>

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

General

Com"mon\, a. [Compar. Commoner; superl. Commonest.] [OE. commun, comon, OF. comun, F. commun, fr. L. communis; com- + munis ready to be of service; cf. Skr. mi to make fast, set up, build, Goth. gamains common, G. gemein, and E. mean low, common. Cf. Immunity, Commune, n. & v.]

1. Belonging or relating equally, or similarly, to more than one; as, you and I have a common interest in the property.

Though life and sense be common to men and brutes. --Sir M. Hale.

2. Belonging to or shared by, affecting or serving, all the members of a class, considered together; general; public; as, properties common to all plants; the common schools; the Book of Common Prayer.

Such actions as the common good requireth. --Hooker.

The common enemy of man. --Shak.

3. Often met with; usual; frequent; customary.

Grief more than common grief. --Shak.

4. Not distinguished or exceptional; inconspicuous; ordinary; plebeian; -- often in a depreciatory sense.

The honest, heart-felt enjoyment of common life. --W. Irving.

This fact was infamous And ill beseeming any common man, Much more a knight, a captain and a leader. --Shak.

Above the vulgar flight of common souls. --A. Murphy.

5. Profane; polluted. [Obs.]

What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. --Acts x. 15.

6. Given to habits of lewdness; prostitute.

A dame who herself was common. --L'Estrange.

Common bar (Law) Same as Blank bar, under Blank.

Common barrator (Law), one who makes a business of instigating litigation.

Common Bench, a name sometimes given to the English Court of Common Pleas.

Common brawler (Law), one addicted to public brawling and quarreling. See Brawler.

Common carrier (Law), one who undertakes the office of carrying (goods or persons) for hire. Such a carrier is bound to carry in all cases when he has accommodation, and when his fixed price is tendered, and he is liable for all losses and injuries to the goods, except those which happen in consequence of the act of God, or of the enemies of the country, or of the owner of the property himself.

Common chord (Mus.), a chord consisting of the fundamental tone, with its third and fifth.

Common council, the representative (legislative) body, or the lower branch of the representative body, of a city or other municipal corporation.

Common crier, the crier of a town or city.

Common divisor (Math.), a number or quantity that divides two or more numbers or quantities without a remainder; a common measure.

Common gender (Gram.), the gender comprising words that may be of either the masculine or the feminine gender.

Common law, a system of jurisprudence developing under the guidance of the courts so as to apply a consistent and reasonable rule to each litigated case. It may be superseded by statute, but unless superseded it controls. --Wharton.

Note: It is by others defined as the unwritten law (especially of England), the law that receives its binding force from immemorial usage and universal reception, as ascertained and expressed in the judgments of the courts. This term is often used in contradistinction from statute law. Many use it to designate a law common to the whole country. It is also used to designate the whole body of English (or other) law, as distinguished from its subdivisions, local, civil, admiralty, equity, etc. See Law.

Common lawyer, one versed in common law.

Common lewdness (Law), the habitual performance of lewd acts in public.

Common multiple (Arith.) See under Multiple.

Common noun (Gram.), the name of any one of a class of objects, as distinguished from a proper noun (the name of a particular person or thing).

Common nuisance (Law), that which is deleterious to the health or comfort or sense of decency of the community at large.

Common pleas, one of the three superior courts of common law at Westminster, presided over by a chief justice and four puisne judges. Its jurisdiction is confined to civil matters. Courts bearing this title exist in several of the United States, having, however, in some cases, both civil and criminal jurisdiction extending over the whole State. In other States the jurisdiction of the common pleas is limited to a county, and it is sometimes called a county court. Its powers are generally defined by statute.

Common prayer, the liturgy of the Church of England, or of the Protestant Episcopal church of the United States, which all its clergy are enjoined to use. It is contained in the Book of Common Prayer.

Common school, a school maintained at the public expense, and open to all.

Common scold (Law), a woman addicted to scolding indiscriminately, in public.

Common seal, a seal adopted and used by a corporation.

Common sense. (a) A supposed sense which was held to be the common bond of all the others. [Obs.] --Trench. (b) Sound judgment. See under Sense.

Common time (Mus.), that variety of time in which the measure consists of two or of four equal portions.

In common, equally with another, or with others; owned, shared, or used, in community with others; affecting or affected equally.

Out of the common, uncommon; extraordinary.

Tenant in common, one holding real or personal property in common with others, having distinct but undivided interests. See Joint tenant, under Joint.

To make common cause with, to join or ally one's self with.

Syn: General; public; popular; national; universal; frequent; ordinary; customary; usual; familiar; habitual; vulgar; mean; trite; stale; threadbare; commonplace. See Mutual, Ordinary, General.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

general

Con"crete\ (? or ?), a. [L. concretus, p. p. of concrescere to grow together; con- + crescere to grow; cf. F. concret. See Crescent.]

1. United in growth; hence, formed by coalition of separate particles into one mass; united in a solid form.

The first concrete state, or consistent surface, of the chaos must be of the same figure as the last liquid state. --Bp. Burnet.

2. (Logic) (a) Standing for an object as it exists in nature, invested with all its qualities, as distinguished from standing for an attribute of an object; -- opposed to abstract. Hence: (b) Applied to a specific object; special; particular; -- opposed to general. See Abstract, 3.

Concrete is opposed to abstract. The names of individuals are concrete, those of classes abstract. --J. S. Mill.

Concrete terms, while they express the quality, do also express, or imply, or refer to, some subject to which it belongs. --I. Watts.

Concrete number, a number associated with, or applied to, a particular object, as three men, five days, etc., as distinguished from an abstract number, or one used without reference to a particular object.

Concrete quantity, a physical object or a collection of such objects. --Davies & Peck.

Concrete science, a physical science, one having as its subject of knowledge concrete things instead of abstract laws.

Concrete sound or movement of the voice, one which slides continuously up or down, as distinguished from a discrete movement, in which the voice leaps at once from one line of pitch to another. --Rush.

On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

general

general: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary