# generic

Pronunciation: say "juh-NAIR-ik" /d͡ʒɪˈnɛɹɪk/

## Adjective

1. Sold without a brand name and interchangeable with others of the same kind; nonproprietary in design or contents.
   - Simple: Sold without a brand name, and the same as other products of its kind.
   - _Most pharmacies stock generic equivalents that contain the same active ingredients as branded drugs._
   - _She filled her cart with generic staples to keep the grocery bill down._
2. Very broad; relating or suited to a whole class or group rather than to specific instances.
   - Simple: Covering a whole group or class, not single examples.
   - _The report offered only generic recommendations that would fit any company._
   - _Such broad, generic categories ignore the differences between individual cases._
3. Lacking distinctive features; unoriginal and hard to tell apart from others of its kind.
   - Simple: Plain and ordinary, with nothing special to make it stand out.
   - _The album was dismissed as generic pop with no memorable hooks._
   - _Every house on the street had the same generic design._
4. Lacking precision, often in an evasive way; vague and noncommittal.
   - Simple: Vague and unclear, often on purpose to avoid giving a real answer.
   - _The spokesperson offered a generic statement that sidestepped the actual question._
   - _His feedback was so generic that it gave the writer nothing to work with._
6. Of code, written to operate on any data type, with the required type supplied as a parameter.
   - Simple: In computer code, made to work with any kind of data, not just one type.
   - _The library provides a generic container that works with any object type._
   - _Using generic methods, the developers avoided rewriting the same logic for each data type._
7. Relating to genre, the recognized categories and conventions that define types of art or writing.
   - Simple: Having to do with a type or style of art, like books, films, or music.
   - _Her thesis examined the generic conventions of gothic fiction._
   - _The film plays with generic expectations before subverting them._
8. Relating to or concerned with gender.
   - Simple: Having to do with gender.
9. Pertaining to a genus rather than to the particular species within it.
   - Simple: About a group of closely related living things, not one single species.
   - _In the binomial system, the generic name comes first and is capitalized._
   - _Botanists debated the generic placement of the newly discovered shrub._
10. Specifying neither masculine nor feminine; suitable for either sex; unisex. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: Not showing whether someone or something is male or female.
   - _Many writers now prefer generic pronouns when the person's gender is unknown._
   - _The form used a generic title rather than Mr. or Ms._
13. In algebraic geometry, having coordinates that are algebraically independent over the base field.
   - Simple: In advanced math, having values that don't depend on one another in any fixed way.
   - _The argument holds for a generic point of the variety, where no extra algebraic relations occur._
   - _Choosing generic parameters ensures the equations stay independent._

## Noun

5. A product marketed under its common name rather than under a brand name.
   - Simple: A product sold without a brand name, usually for less money.
   - _The doctor said a generic would work just as well as the name-brand pill._
   - _Supermarket generics often come from the same factories as branded goods._
11. A word or expression that specifies neither male nor female reference.
   - Simple: A word that does not show whether someone is male or female.
   - _"Server" has largely replaced the gendered pair as the preferred generic._
   - _Many languages lack convenient generics for professions._
12. The element of a place name that identifies the type of geographic feature, such as "River" or "Mountain."
   - Simple: In a place name, the word that says what kind of place it is, like "River" or "Lake."
   - _In "Mississippi River," the generic distinguishes the waterway from the state of the same name._
   - _Toponymists catalog the generics that recur across a region's place names._
14. A wine blended from several wines or made from a mix of different grape varieties.
   - Simple: A wine made by mixing different wines or grape types together.
   - _The house generic paired well with almost any dish on the menu._
   - _Bargain generics often combine grapes from across a whole region._

## Origin

From Middle French générique, from Latin genus ("genus, kind") plus the suffix -ic. It is thus formed in parallel with, and is a doublet of, the word general.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/generic (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).