Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb Popularly; widely.
  • adverb As a rule; usually.
  • adverb For the most part.
  • adverb Without reference to particular instances or details; not specifically.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In a general or universal manner; with respect to all the individuals of a class.
  • All taken together; collectively; in a body.
  • In general; commonly though not universally; most frequently; in most cases.
  • In the main; without detail; upon the whole.
  • Synonyms Usually, ordinarily, mainly, principally, chiefly.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb In general; commonly; extensively, though not universally; most frequently.
  • adverb In a general way, or in general relation; in the main; upon the whole; comprehensively.
  • adverb obsolete Collectively; as a whole; without omissions.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb Popularly or widely.
  • adverb As a rule; usually.
  • adverb Without reference to specific details.
  • adverb obsolete collectively; as a whole; without omissions

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb without regard to specific details or exceptions
  • adverb usually; as a rule
  • adverb without distinction of one from others

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

general +‎ -ly

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Examples

  • As you can see, the term generally gets us somewhere between a man and a sandwich!

    Tim Jahnigen: Heroes: Who Are They? Tim Jahnigen 2011

  • The term generally refers to loans given to borrowers with weak credit.

    Fannie and Freddie Probe Faces a Snag Nick Timiraos 2011

  • Thats a matter of definition, but as the term generally is defined in France, no.

    The Foie Gras Wars Mark Caro 2009

  • Thats a matter of definition, but as the term generally is defined in France, no.

    The Foie Gras Wars Mark Caro 2009

  • Criteria are confusing, but the term generally refers to learning problems in which the defining characteristic is the failure to learn, in spite of average or better intelligence, and in the absence of such primary contributing factors as emotional disorders, sensory impairment and gross neurological dysfunction.

    Clinical Work with Adolescents Judith Marks Mishne 1986

  • Fifty years later, University of Florida researchers began developing Florida-friendly varieties of highbush berries, the term generally used for cultivated blueberries.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • The term generally describes politically motivated killings of public officials while the law of war limits targeting to those with military roles, even if they are civilians.

    Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Local News 2011

  • "Recordation is a term generally used in the context of Historic American Building Surveys or Historic American Engineering Records," NASA's federal preservation officer Jennifer Groman told collectSPACE in an e-mail.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2012

  • But while familiar brands like Coors' "Silver Bullet" and Bud may still dominate refrigerators and football commercials, craft beers a term generally tied to a brewery's modest size, traditional methods and independent ownership are steadily boosting their market share.

    USATODAY.com News 2011

  • Medium format is a term generally associated with film cameras, though digital medium format models do exist other than Samsung's prototype.

    Gizmodo Kat Hannaford 2011

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