Advertisement

Advertisement

overgeneralization

[ oh-ver-jen-er-uh-luh-zey-shuhn ]

noun

  1. the act or process of overgeneralizing.
  2. the result of overgeneralizing.
  3. Linguistics. (in language acquisition) the process of extending the application of a rule to items that are excluded from it in the language norm, as when a child uses the regular past tense verb ending -ed of forms like I walked to produce forms like *I goed or *I rided.


Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of overgeneralization1

First recorded in 1945–50; over- + generalization

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


overgearovergeneralize