general
Listen:Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
general/ˈʤenrəl/
▶adjective
- 1 affecting or concerning all or most people or things; not specialized or limited.
■ normal or usual.
- 2 involving only the main features or elements and disregarding exceptions; overall.
- 3 chief or principal: the general manager.
- 1 a commander of an army, or an army officer ranking above lieutenant general.
■ short for lieutenant general or major general. ■the head of a religious order organized on quasi-military lines, e.g. the Jesuits or the Salvation Army.
- 2 (the general) archaic the general public.
– phrases
in general
in general
- 1 usually; mainly.
- 2 as a whole.
– derivatives
generalship noun.
generalship noun.
– origin ME: via OFr. from L. generalis, from genus, gener- ‘class, race, kind’.
'general' also found in these Oxford entries:
acyl
- adage
- adjutant general
- adumbrate
- advocate-general
- AG
- Agent General
- AGM
- airman
- algebra
- almanac
- American Indian
- angst
- annual general meeting
- antonomasia
- aphorism
- ass
- assurance
- Attorney General
- Auslese
- bandh
- batt
- bird's-eye view
- block diagram
- bluchers
- brigadier
- brigadier general
- broad
- canon
- captain general
- catechesis
- catechism
- CGS
- chattel
- chloroform
- circulation
- citizen journalism
- climate
- cloud
- cloud base
- colonel
- commercial bank
- commonplace
- commonwealth
- complexion
- congregation
- consensus
- constitution
- corner shop
- cosmography
