generable 
2t. Genial; contributory to propagation. AVimr. 
Thou, (jueeit of heav'n, coiniiKinilrfSs of the deep, 
Lady of lakes, regent of woods and deer, 
A lamp dispelling irksome night; the source 
Of generable moisture. r'ninnis Troes. 
general (jen'e-ral), a. and n. [Early mod. E. 
also generall; < ME. general, generalle, < OF. 
general, F. general = Pr. Sp. general = Pg. </''"'- 
ral, geral = It. generate = D. generaal = G. Dan. 
Sw. general (in comp.), general, common, < L. 
generalis, of or belonging to a kind, race, or ge- 
nus, of or belonging to all, general^ common, 
< genus (gener-), a kind, race, family, genus : 
see gender, n., and genue. ] I, a. 1. Pertaining 
or applicable to or predicable of all objects of 
a given class, or all of a number of resembling 
individuals ; universal within the limits of the 
class or group of things considered : as, a general 
law of nature ; a statute general in its applica- 
tion; a general principle; a general idea; the 
general interest or safety of a nation ; to labor 
for the general good. In logic a name, as, for ex- 
ample, "cockatrice/' is considered to be general even 
though there is no real individual to which it can be ap- 
plied ; and it may also be general though there is but one 
individual to which it is actually applied. On the other 
hand, a disjunctive expression, as " William Shakspere, 
William Harvey, or Francis Bacon," though predicable 
of each individual of the group, is not considered to be 
general. See nominalism, realism, and conceptucUism. 
I drink to the general joy of the whole table. 
Shak., Macbeth, ill. 4. 
When she defines, argues, divides, compounds, 
Considers vertue, vice, and general things. 
Sir J. Dance, Nosce Telpsum. 
The verdurous wall of Paradise up sprung; 
Which to our general sire gave prospect large 
Into his nether empire neighbouring round. 
Milton, P. L., iv. 144. 
If ... ideas be abstract, . . . [our knowledge] will be 
general knowledge. 
Locke, Human Understanding, IV. iv. 12. 
He appeals to all, 
And by the general voice will stand or fall. 
Sheridan, The Rivals, Prol. 
Every man who has seen the world knows that nothing 
is so useless as a general maxim. Macaulay, Machiavelli. 
The homeward voyage and captivity of Richard had 
some effect on the general affairs of the world ; his special 
visit to Kagusa affected only the local affairs of Ragusa. 
E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 222. 
In observing human character, single feelings or actions 
interest us chiefly as criteria of general tendencies. 
,/. Sully, Sensation and Intuition, p. 267. 
The reproduction of ideas under the so-called laws of 
association is a general fact of consciousness. 
6. T. Ladd, Physiol. Psychology, p. 534. 
2. Pertaining or applicable to, or predicable 
or true of, many or most of a class indefinitely, 
but by implication not to every member of it 
without exception ; common to the majority or 
an indefinite number, or to a large but indefi- 
nite extent; prevalent; usual; common: as, 
a general custom; to differ from the general 
opinion ; hence, indefinite ; vague ; not precise : 
as, to evade a point by general statements. 
Specifically, in mat ft., true except in certain limiting 
cases, when certain quantities vanish. Thus, it is true as 
a general proposition that three equations suffice to de- 
termine three unknown quantities ; yet this is not the 
case if the resultant vanishes. 
Their generallest weapons are the Russe bowes and ar- 
rowes. Capt. John Smith, True Travels, I. 43. 
Until I woke, and found him settled down 
Upon the general decay of faith 
Right thro' the world. Tennyson, The Epic. 
Where the author speaks more strictly and particularly 
on any theme, it will explain the more loose and general 
expressions. Watts, Improvement of Mind. 
Who shall tell when the sense of insecurity has become 
general enough to merit respect? 
H. Spencer, Social Statics, p. 170. 
The general rough-and-ready education of such a life. 
W. Black. 
3. Comprising or pertaining to the whole ; col- 
lective : opposed to partial: as, a general set- 
tlement of accounts; a general departure of 
guests; a general involucre (that is, one which 
subtends the whole inflorescence); also, per- 
taining to, predicable of, or occupied with a 
great variety of different objects having com- 
mon characters. 
And in the beige holly gost holly y beleue, 
And generall holy chirche also hold this in thy mynde. 
Fieri Plowman's Crede (E. E. T. S.), 1. 816. 
Ye are come unto mount Sion, and ... to the general 
assembly and church of the firstborn which are written 
in heaven. Heb. xii. 23. 
Our general forces at Bridgenorth shall meet. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., iii. 2. 
There were the learned Isaac Vossius and Spanhemius, 
son of the famous man of Heidelburg, nor was this gentle- 
man less learned, being a generall scholar. 
Evelyn, Diary, Oct. 31, 1675. 
4. Pertaining to the main features of the ob- 
ject; regarded in the gross, with neglect of 
2482 
details and unimportant exceptions : as, his 
general attainments are excellent; a gem nil 
survey. 
Having gotten his general knowledge of the party 
against whom, as he had already of the party for whom, 
he was to tight. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, i. 
The generall end therefore of all the booke is to fashion 
a gentleman or noble person in vertuousand gentle ilisri- 
pline. Spenser, To Raleigh, prefixed to F. <;. 
Why, my lord of York commends the plot and the gen- 
eral course of the action. Shak., 1 Hen. IV., ii. 3. 
I have a very general acquaintance here in New Eng- 
land. Hawthorne, Old Manse, I. 91. 
The general aspect was peaceful and contented. 
0. W. Holmet, Old Vol. of Life, p. 26. 
5. Having to do with all; public; common; 
vulgar. 
You will rather show our general louts 
How you can frown. Shak., Cor., Iii. 2. 
Are you coying it, 
When I command you to be free, and general 
To all? B, Jonson, Catiline, 1. 1. 
She's generall, she's free, she's liberal! 
Of hand and purse, she's open unto all. 
John Taylor, Works (1630). 
The general practitioner is the advance guard of the 
army which fights against disease. 
Saturday Rev., March, 1S74, p. 303. 
6. Not specifically limited in scope, operation, 
or function ; not restricted to special details, 
particulars, or occasions: used of authority 
conferred, or of office or employment exer- 
cised: as, a general power of attorney; a gen- 
eral officer of the army; a general mechanic. 
[General in this sense, in designations of rank or office 
taken or imitated from the French, usually follows, ac- 
cording to French idiom, the noun which it qualifies ; and 
the two words are in English usually treated as a com- 
pound noun, as adjutant-general, attorney-general, etc.] 
General acceptance. See acceptance, l (c) (2). Gen- 
eral act. See act, 4. General agent, anatomy, ane- 
mia, Assembly, assignment, authority. See the 
nouns. General average. See average", 1 (*). Gen- 
eral Baptists. See Baptist, 2. General case, center, 
color. See the nouns. General charge, in Scots law, 
a charge the use of which is to cause the heir either to 
represent his ancestor or to renounce the succession. A 
general special charge is a writ passing the signet, the ob- 
ject of which is to supply the place of a general service, 
and to vest by a fiction of law those subjects which would 
have required a general service to have vested them in 
the heir. General conference. See conference, 2 (c). 
General confession. See confession. General confu- 
tation, in logic, a confutation which does not name the 
fallacy committed, but either denies the consequence, or 
distinguishes, or offers an independent argument to the 
contrary. General Convention. See convention, 8 (a). 
General conversion, in logic, that mode of conversion 
commonly called simple, where the quantity of the propo- 
sition remains unchanged. General council (eccles.). 
See council, ?. General council of the university. See 
council. General Court, credit, custom, delivery. 
See the nouns. General Court of Trials, a session of 
the general court or legislative assembly of a New England 
colony held for the purpose of trying causes, in exercise 
of the judicial power which those assemblies possessed. 
For theft a white man was tried in those old days at the 
General Court of Trials. 
Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies, IV. 115. 
General Deficiency Bill See bills. General demur- 
rer. See demurrers, 1. General deputy. Seedrjmty, 
3. General edict, equation, issue, jurisdiction, ju- 
risprudence, law, legacy, lien, etc. See the nouns. 
General mortgage-bonds. See bondi. General offi- 
cer, order, etc. See the nouns. General postman, n 
carrier of letters in general except those sent from one 
point in the London district to another. [Eng.] 
Like A general postman's coat. Dickens, Pickwick, ii. 
General principle, one to which there are no exceptions 
within its range of application, or which is true of every- 
thing to which it is germane. General regulations. 
See regulat ion. General service, ship, statute, tall, 
terra, warrant, warranty, etc. See the nouns. Heir 
general. See heir. =Syn. 1-3. Common, Universal. See 
common. 
II. n. 1. That which is general or common to 
all of a g^ven class or group ; a general state- 
ment, principle, truth, etc. 
For his answer to what I afflrme, by that generall which 
he bringeth, if I should grant all he saith, how short it 
were you may easily judge. 
E. Winslow, in Appendix to New England's Memorial, 
[p. 395. 
In particulars our knowledge begins, and so spreads it- 
self by degrees to generals. Locke. 
2. A genus or class embracing all objects hav- 
ing certain characters, and especially including 
species under it. Now only in the phrase in 
general (which see, below). 
The chief general is so that where as it is in the head of 
al and above al it can never become inferiour to be of any 
kinde or sorte in thinges. . . . The middle general is the 
same that being comprehended betwixte the chiefe gen- 
eral and the lowest kinde or sorte in thinges, may be also 
some kinde or fourme it self. 
Sir T. Wilson, Rule of Reason (1551). 
All our abilities, gifts, natures, shapes, 
Severals and generals of grace. 
Shak., T. and C., i. 3. 
A history painter paints man in general. 
Sir J. Reynolds. 
generalisable 
3. Milit., an officer holding a general com- 
mand (whence the title) ; the commander of an 
army, or of any organization of troops larger 
than a regiment : as an official title, used either 
alone for the highest or next to the highest rank, 
or with an adjunct designating the particular 
grade. See lieutenan t-general, major-general, and 
brigatlifr-gcni-ral. In modern European armies the 
specific rank of general is usually the highest under that 
of marshal or neld-murshal. In the United States the title, 
when used, is that of the acting Commander-in-chief of the 
whole army (the President being the titular commander - 
in-chief). The rank has been held, under temporary laws, 
only by Generals Washington, Grant, and Sherman. ;unl 
for a short time before his death in 1888 by General Sheri- 
dan, whose previous title as commander-in-chief was lieu- 
tenant-general. In address and common speech any gen- 
eral officer is called general simply. Abbreviated Gen. 
The senate has letters from the general, wherein he gives 
my son the whole name of the war. Shak., Cor., ii. 1. 
The war's old art each private soldier knows, 
And with a general's love of conquest glows. 
Addison, The Campaign. 
4. A particular beat of drum or march, being 
that which, in the morning, gives notice to in- 
fantry to be in readiness to march. 5. Eccles. , 
the chief of an order of monks or priests, or of 
all the houses or congregations established un- 
derthe same rule : as, the general of the Domini- 
cans, or of the Jesuits. In most orders the office is 
held for three years, but in that of the Jesuits it is held 
for life. The general, being subject to the immediate juris- 
diction of the pope, is exempt from episcopal jurisdiction, 
but has the right to sit and vote with the bishops in a gen- 
eral council of the church. 
6f. The public ; the community ; the vulgar. 
The success, 
Although particular [partial], shall give a scantling 
Of good or bad unto the general. Shak., T. and C., i. S. 
The play, I remember, pleased not the million ; 'twas 
caviare to the general. Shak., Hamlet, ii. 2. 
General of division, a general commanding a division 
of an army in the field. Compare brigadier. Great gen- 
erals, the general charges furnished by the owner of a fish- 
ing-vessel, including wood, water, lights, knives, salt, bait, 
etc. [New England.] In general, (a) As regards the 
generality or most ; for the most part ; with few excep- 
tions ; in the main ; generally. 
But I should think, Mr. Puff, that authors would in gen- 
eral be able to do this sort of work for themselves. 
Sheridan, The Critic, i. 2. 
In general, those who nothing have to say 
Contrive to spend the longest time in doing it. 
Lowell, Oriental Apologue. 
(i)t) Inclusively ; without exception. 
They dede his pleasure to obeye, 
Theder they came ichon in generall. 
Generydes (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1691. 
Nest. Our general doth salute you with a kiss. 
Ult/ss. Yet is the kindness but particular ; 
'Twere better she were kiss'd in general. 
Shak., T. and C., iv. 5. 
(ct) In all things. 
Thou art a grave and noble counsellor, 
Most wise in general. Shak., Pericles, v. 1. 
{d) In math., in all cases except possibly in limiting cases 
or in case of some additional condition being fulfilled. 
Small generals, the general charges furnished by the 
crew of a fishing-vessel, as the provisions, lines, hooks, etc. 
[New England.] 
generalt, adv. [< general, a.] Same as gener- 
ally. 
Such attribution should the Douglas have, 
As not a soldier of this season's stamp 
Should go so general current through the world. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., iv. 1. 
general (jen'e-ral), v. t. ; pret. and pp. gener- 
aled or generalled, ppr. generating or general- 
ling. [< general, .] To command as a gen- 
eral; marshal. 
The God of battles was on their side ; crime and the lost 
archangel generaled the ranks of Pharaoh. 
Charlotte Bronte, Shirley, iii. 
generalate (jen'e-ral-at), . [< general + -ate^.'] 
1 . A district under the control or supervision 
of a general. [Rare.] 
By the close of the 17th century there were three fron- 
tier generalates Carlstadt, Warasdiu, and Petrinia (the 
last also called the Banal). Encyc. Brit., XVI. 295. 
2. The office of a general; a generalship. 
[Rare.] 
generale (jen-e-ra'le), n.; pi. generalia (-li-a). 
[L., neut. of generalis, general: see general, a.] 
That which is general; hence, in the plural, 
general principles. 
There is need of a set of intermediate scientific truths, 
derived from the higher generalities of science, and des- 
tined to serve as the generalia or first principles of the va- 
rious arts. J. S. Mill, Logic, VI. xi. S 5. 
generaless (jen'e-ral-es), n. [< general + -ess.'] 
A female general or commander. [Rare.] 
He hastily nominates or sanctions generalesses, captains 
of tens and fifties. Carlyle, French Rev., I. vii. 5. 
generalia, . Plural of generale. 
generalisable, generalisation, etc. See gen- 
eralizable, etc. 
