Generalize
//ˈd͡ʒɛn.(ə.)ɹə.laɪz// verb
verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To speak in generalities, or in vague terms.
- 2 become systemic and spread throughout the body wordnet
- 3 To infer or induce from specific cases to more general cases or principles.
"Copernicus generalized the celestial motions by merely referring them to the moon's motion. Newton generalized them still more by referring this last to the motion of a stone through the air."
- 4 cater to popular taste to make popular and present to the general public; bring into general or common use wordnet
- 5 To spread throughout the body and become systemic.
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- 6 draw from specific cases for more general cases wordnet
- 7 To derive or deduce (a general concept or principle) from particular facts.
"A mere conclusion generalized from a great multitude of facts."
- 8 speak or write in generalities wordnet
Example
More examples"You can't just generalize like that."
Etymology
From general + -ize.
More for "generalize"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.