| 释义 |
▪ I. general, a. and n.|ˈdʒɛnərəl|
Forms: 3–6 generale, 4–8 generall(e, (5 gendral), 3– general.
[a. OF. general (mod.F. général), ad. L. generāl-is, f. gener- genus, class, kind, race. The word has been adopted in most of the European langs.: Pr., Sp. géneral, Pg. general, geral, It. generale, Ger. general, as n. and in composition (with adj. sense), also generell, as adj., Du. generaal.
The primary sense of the Latin adj. is thus ‘pertaining to the (whole) kind or class’. The word is somewhat rare in classical Latin; in the later lang., when genus and species (after the Aristotelian γένος and εἶδος) had become familiar as the technical terms for classes respectively of greater and less extension, generalis came to be often used in contrast to specialis; the antithetic use of the two words remains in all the European langs.]
A. adj.
1. a. Including, participated in by, involving, or affecting, all, or nearly all, the parts of a specified whole, or the persons or things to which there is an implied reference; completely or approximately universal within implied limits; opposed to partial or particular. general average: see average n.2 4. general health, the state of health of the body as a whole, or of a community. general paralysis: see paralysis.
1340Ayenb. 14 Þe tuelfte article is to leue þe general arizinge of bodye. 1389Eng. Gilds 52 Also ordeynd it was, be on assente of þe fraternite, þt þe general day schulde ben helde [vppon] þe feste of reliques. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. lxxxviii. (1495) 837 Wherto grete multytude is of lyce in a body it is ofte take of generall corrupcion. c1400Sowdone Bab. 295 Thai made assaite [sic] then generalle. 1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 86 The generall resurrection at the last day. 1659B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 125 He wanted but the getting of one General Battel. 1665Manley Grotius' Low-C. Warres 387 The Cities of the Netherlands, made it their general Request..that [etc.]. 1707in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 9 The Earl of Derby being elected Mayor, the Aldrmen and Councell signify'd the same to his Lordpp by a general letter. 1712Addison Spect. No. 523 ⁋7 The time of a general peace is, in all appearance, drawing near. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. i. §15 Is not the general Good of Mankind to be regarded as [etc.]? 1738Swift Polite Conv. i. 31 All the World knows, that Mr. Spruce is a general Lover. 1738Lucca's Mem. 95 Those vast Lands or Hills of Gravel, were undoubtedly left by the general Deluge. 1771E. Griffith tr. Viaud's Shipwreck 47, I returned..and was received with a general shout of joy. 1786Burke W. Hastings Wks. 1842 II. 192 A general rebellion and revolt for the utter extirpation of the English nation. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India III. vi. i. 8 The remaining chiefs..immediately broke into general discord. 1819in A. Clarke Ess. Dis. Skin (1821) v. 97 It does not seem to hurt my general health; my appetite is good. 1820Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 359 A large whale, harpooned from a boat belonging to the same ship, became the subject of a general share. 1833Alison Hist. Europe i. §64 (1849–50) I. 108 Fruitless struggles of partial freedom with general servitude. 1847Grote Greece ii. xlii. (1862) III. 504 He determined on a general battle forthwith. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 202 The English government, lately an object of general contempt. 1870Food Jrnl. 1 Mar. 67 So numerous are the forms which charitable relief assumes, that it would be next to impossible to analyse their separate influence on the general health. 1874Green Short Hist. v. §1. 212 The tendency to a general use of the national tongue told powerfully on literature. 1879Man. Artill. Exerc. iii. 69 Attentions to the comforts of the men will..add to their general health. 1899Daily News 11 May 4/1 Although my general health, to use a well-known phrase, is wonderfully good, I seem indeed..to fear being kept here too long. 1903Westm. Gaz. 26 Mar. 9/2 His leg wound did not heal well, and this, with his poor general health, greatly depressed him. 1951E. M. Gravelius Brit. Red Cross Nursing Man. (ed. 9) xx. 240 The general health plays an important part in the recovery from skin complaints.
†b. Pertaining in common to various persons or things. Const. to. Obs.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 43 A general mynystre and seruaunt of al þe breþerhed. 1559W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 47 Th' Earth is round, causing vs & them not to haue one generall Horizent. 1631Widdowes Nat. Philos. (ed. 2) 2 Accidents are..generall to all things, as motion, time, and place, for these belong to all. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 144 Our general Sire. Ibid. 492 So spake our general Mother.
c. With collect. or pl. n.: All, all collectively, whole. Obs. exc. in general body.
1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. iv. 3 All our generall force, Might with a sally of the very Towne Be buckled with. 1605― Lear i. iv. 65 A great abatement of kindnesse appeares as well in the generall dependants, as in the Duke himselfe. 1606― Tr. & Cr. v. ii. 132 Criticks, apt without a theame For deprauation, to square the generall sex By Cressids rule. 1725Pope Odyss. xxiv. 230 The gen'ral sex shall suffer in her shame. 1874Green Short Hist. iv. §2. 171 A fixed sum..apportioned by their own magistrates among the general body of the burghers.
2. a. Concerned with, or established for, the whole of a certain territory or organization; opposed to local, sectional, etc. In early use chiefly of deliberative bodies, as in general chapter, general council (see council 2). general American, a form of U.S. speech without marked dialectal or regional characteristics; General Certificate of Education, an examination set by each of a group of examining boards for pupils in secondary school in England and Wales; also, the certificate awarded to those who pass this examination; cf. G.C.E. (s.v. G III); general circulation, (a) (see quot. 1928); (b) ‘circulation, as of a newspaper, among readers not confined to a narrow class in business or interests' (Webster 1909); general election: one in which representatives are elected by every constituency; opposed to by-election; general headquarters, the headquarters of the commander-in-chief; general meeting, a meeting which all members of a society or other organization may attend; general quarters, in the navy, the stationing of all hands, and the making of preparations, as if for an encounter with the enemy; also attrib. (as general-quarter); general reserve (see quot.); general semantics, ‘a doctrine and educational discipline due to Alfred Korzybski (1879–1950) intended to improve the habits of response of human beings to their environment and one another esp. by training in the better and more critical uses of words and other symbols’ (Webster 1961); general strike, (a) a strike of all the workers of one industry; (b) a concerted strike by workmen of all or most of the important trades and occupations of a country with a view to securing some common object by the stoppage of business; spec. that in Britain in 1926; general ticket (U.S.): the system by which the whole list of candidates for the representation, e.g. of a state or city, is voted upon by the undivided body of electors (= F. scrutin de liste).
1934Webster, Introd. p. xxvi/1 In America three main types of cultivated speech are distinguishable:..(3) the variously named Western, Midwestern, or General American. Ibid., The fact that more speakers in the English-speaking world habitually use the General American than any other single type cannot vitiate the standing of the Southern British..for the educated Englishman. 1947C. K. Thomas Introd. Phonetics Amer. Eng. xxii. 171 Eastern New England, the New York City area, the South, and the General American area clearly speak according to..different standards. Ibid. 172 The New York City area..has a population verging on ten million; General American,..a population of over eighty million. 1964Listener 16 Apr. 634/3 What is called general American—a more-or-less middle-western accent.
1947Examinations Secondary Schools (Rep. Second. School Exam. Council) 6 It is because the ‘Ordinary’ and ‘Advanced’ papers have fundamentally the same qualifying purpose..and because we wish them to be available to candidates who are not ‘at school’ that we have proposed the single certificate and offered the title ‘General Certificate of Education’. Ibid. 8 A ‘General Certificate of Education’ should be awarded showing the subjects (and the level—‘Ordinary’ or ‘Advanced’—in each subject) in which the candidate has satisfied the examiners. 1955Times 28 June 5/3 It is hoped to establish courses leading to the General Certificate of Education, for pupils who need the G.C.E. to qualify for professional training.
c1290Beket 1498 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 149 Greye Monekes of Cistevs fram ȝere to ȝere A Chapitre makeden generale of Abbodes þat þere were; For euerech Abbod of greie Monekes to þulke chapitle cam.
1899Q. Jrnl. R. Meteorol. Soc. XXV. 166 Schemes and discussions concerning the general circulation of the atmosphere. 1926N. Shaw Man. Meteorol. I. 291 Dove rendered a signal service to the observational representation of the general circulation by producing monthly maps of isotherms of the globe. 1928D. Brunt Meteorol. iv. 26 When we draw charts on which are represented, at a large number of stations, the most frequently occurring wind directions.., we find the movement of the winds of the globe form a system which is much simpler in appearance than might have been expected by one accustomed only to the variability of weather in the British Isles. This system is called the ‘general circulation’ of the atmosphere.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10172 Þis bissopes..conceil made general. 1538Starkey England i. iv. 124 Els we schold haue veray oft general counsellys. 1778A. Hamilton Wks. (1886) VII. 539 Arguments to you, Sir, need not be multiplied to enforce the necessity of having a good general council.
1813Wellington Let. to Brisbane 18 Aug. in Gurw. Desp. (1838) XI. 10, I have to inform the General court martial that [etc.]. 1872Clode Milit. & Mart. Law ii. 33 ‘For the better administration of Justice’, the Code [of 1666] established..a ‘General Court-martial’ for offences punishable with life or limb.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Barnabas 15 He callit paule..& mad hyme doctor generale, to preche in þis varld hale.
1800J. Jay Corr. & Pub. Papers (1893) IV. 266 The approaching general election in this State will be unusually animated. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 174 Early in 1661 took place a general election.
1791G. Washington Lett. Writ. 1892 XII. 33 The States individually are omitting no occasion to intermeddle in matters, which belong to the general government. 1837H. Martineau Soc. Amer. II. 66 The expenses of the general government are so small that [etc.].
1859War in Italy 54 The infantry of the guard followed general head-quarters to Castenedolo. Ibid., General head-quarters..moved to Montechiaro. 1914Times 3 Oct. 8/2 The Press Bureau..issued the following descriptive account, which has been communicated by an eye-witness present with General Headquarters.
1894G. Findlay Eng. Railway 13 The executive management of the line is carried on by a General Manager, etc.
1782R. Goadby Life B.M. Carew 11 Their general meetings at stated times, which they are all obliged to be present at. 1812Dramatic Censor for 1811 419 The Committee, therefore, might be left..to call a General Meeting when they might deem such a proceeding necessary. 1900Westm. Gaz. 5 Mar. 9/2 On every ‘general-quarter’ day, in my last ship. 1919W. Lang Sea Lawyer's Log vi. 61 When the bugle sounds ‘General Quarters’, the prelude to action.
1918E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms 259 General reserve, a reserve retained in the hands of the general officer commanding of the whole force until required. 1933A. Korzybski (title) Science and sanity. An introduction to non-Aristotelian systems and general semantics. 1951Essays & Studies IV. 119 The term ‘General Semantics’ was used by the late Alfred Korzybski for a kind of linguistic therapy quite unrelated to technical linguistics.
1670Act 22 Chas. II, c. 14 Preamb., A Generall Sessions of Sewers holden at Spalding.
1810,1830General strike [see strike n. 9]. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 26/1 In 1891 a general strike took place in the German printing trade. 1924J. F. Bryant Gandhi & Indianisation 72 His methods were tinged with the ideas of Passive Resistance and the General Strike. 1926Hansard, Commons 3 May 71, I do not think all the leaders when they assented to ordering a general strike fully realised that they were threatening the basis of ordered government. 1952Chambers's Encycl. World Survey 215 A general strike of textile workers took place in Bombay and towards the end of the period notice of a general strike on the Indian railways was given. 1954B. & R. North tr. Duverger's Pol. Parties i. i. 15 General Strikes of 1891 and 1893 in Belgium; of 1902 and 1908 in Sweden. 1971A. Bullock 20th Cent. iii. 72/1 The failure of the General Strike in 1926 marked the defeat of the militants in the British Labour movement.
1800T. Jefferson Writ. (Ford) VII. 401 On the subject of an election by a general ticket, or by districts, most persons..seem to have made up their minds. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. I. i. xxv. 385 note, The presidential electors being now chosen, in each State, by ‘general ticket’, not in districts.
b. (a) General Post Office, † General Letter Office: the office established in London in 1660 for the collection and dispatch of letters to all parts of the three kingdoms.
[1591: cf. Postes Generall under 10.] 1660Act 12 Chas. II, c. 35 §1 Whereas for the..prevention of many Inconveniences happening by private Posts severall publique Post Offices have beene heretofore erected..To the end thereof that the same may be managed soe that speedy and safe dispatches may be had, which is most likely to be effected by erecting one Generall Post Office..Be it therefore enacted..that there be from henceforth one Generall Letter Office erected and established in some convenient place within the Citty of London from whence all Letters..may be with speede..sent unto any part of the Kingdomes of England, Scotland and Ireland [etc.]. 1675Lond. Gaz. No. 1006/4 A Post will go every night..from the General Post-Office in London to Windsor. 1676Ibid. No. 1081/4 During His Majesties stay at Newmarket, a Post will go thither every Night about 10 a Clock from the General Letter Office in London. 1708Ibid. No. 4451/3 The Post will go to and from the General Post-Office in London and Tunbridge every Day in the Week.
(b) General Post: formerly, the post or mail that was sent from the General Post Office in London, originally on certain days, latterly once a day, to all the post offices in the kingdom (opposed to the local ‘penny’ or ‘two-penny’ post); hence the first delivery in the morning is still officially designated the G.P. or General Post delivery. † Also attrib., as general-post-day, general postman (opposed to ‘penny’ or ‘twopenny’ postman), general post-office (an office which receives letters for the ‘general post’). ‘General Post’ is also the name of a game, in which each player is called by the name of a place to which letters are supposed to be sent; also fig., a general and rapid exchange or interchange of positions, etc.
1707[see post n.2 5 a]. 1755Man No. 13. 5 That I may not interfere with the penny-post, the general-post, or the news-men, I propose to receive no parcel that does not outweigh a pound. 1767Burke Corr. (1844) I. 130 Have the goodness to write me a line on general-post days, how you all go on. 1806R. Cumberland Mem. (1807) II. 179 Between the arrival of the general post and its departure there is an interval of twelve hours. 1837Dickens Pickw. ii, Like a general postman's coat. Ibid. xxxiii, Sam not forgetting to drop his letter into a general post-office as they walked along. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. i. 2 There came one morning, by the general post, a black⁓bordered letter. 1839Thackeray Fatal Boots xi, I..became a general postman! 1889K. Greenaway Bk. Games 63 General Post. One person is selected as ‘postman’ and blindfolded, the others all take the names of different places, except one, who is chosen the leader, and has a written list of the places chosen by the players. 1898A. B. Gomme Games for Parlour & Playgr. 51 An occasional call of ‘General Post’ by the leader, when all players must change their seats, gives a good chance to the blind man. 1941A. L. Rowse Tudor Cornwall xii. 307 They were..instituted to other livings; in effect, it meant a sort of general post of the affected clergy. 1954M. Beresford Lost Villages vi. 213 In this general post the land-use of much of the Midlands, the grassy shires, could be considered afresh. 1969I. & P. Opie Children's Games vi. 209 The party game known variously as ‘General Post’, ‘Move All’ [etc.].
c. Mil. general orders (see quot. 1867).
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., General orders, the orders issued by the commander-in-chief of the forces. 1879Tourgee Fool's Err. iv. 18 He has been..gazetted for gallant conduct, and general orders and reports have contained his name.
3. † = catholic 5 (obs.). Also, in the modern translations of the N.T., used for catholic 4, interpreted as meaning ‘addressed to all’.
1380Lay Folks Catech. (Lamb. MS.) 306 We schul trow þat þer ys general chirche. c1394P. Pl. Crede 816 In þe heiȝe holly gost holly y beleue, and generall holy chirche. 1611Bible, The Generall Epistle of Iames.
4. a. Pertaining to, shared by, or current among the majority or a considerable part of the community; prevalent, widespread, usual.
1390Gower Conf. I. 364 Which sinne [homicide] is nowe so generall. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) Pref. 2 It es lang tyme passed sen þare was any general passage ouer þe see in to þe haly land. 1535Coverdale Eccl. vi. 1 There is yet a plage vnder y⊇ Sonne, and it is a general thinge amonge men. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 907 These dances are generall thorow America. 1623in Crt. & Times Jas. I (1849) II. 369 It [the report] came to town on Tuesday night, and was general all Wednesday. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 71 ⁋9 This general forgetfulness of the fragility of life. 1752Mason Elfrida Introd. Lett. ii. p. v, A Writer of Tragedy must certainly adapt himself more to the general taste. 1794Paley Evid. (1825) II. 377 It was a general but erroneous opinion of those times. 1822R. G. Wallace 15 Yrs. Ind. Advt. 5 Arrowsmith's new map is now in such general circulation that [etc.]. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 65 A proof..of Henry's confidence in the general attachment of his subjects. 1875Fortnum Majolica iii. 34 The use of the white stanniferous enamel did not become general in Italy until [etc.]. 1885Manch. Exam. 15 May 5/3 Lord R. Churchill's latest escapade..is the theme of general remark.
b. in a general way: ordinarily, usually.
1745P. Thomas Voy. S. Seas 144 Nor does this Distemper, in a general Way, incline People to Indolence, till [etc.].
5. a. Not specifically limited or determined in application; relating or applicable to a whole class of objects, cases, or occasions.
In general confession, general pardon (see the ns.) the adj. varies between this sense and sense 1.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 441 Þai say furst, þat speciale prayere aplied by hor prelatis is better þen generale. c1391Chaucer Astrol. ii. §2 This chapitre is so general euer in on, þat ther nedith no more declaracion. 1405Rolls Parlt. III. 605/1 Henry Boynton [etc.] our generalls and specialls Attornes and Deputes. c1449Pecock Repr. iv. ix. 471 In a larger and generaler fourme. 1581Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 33 The Historian..is..tyed..to the particular truth of things, and not to the general reason of things. 1628Wither Brit. Rememb. ii. 839 From acts particular None should conclusions generall inferre. 1687Dryden Hind & P. Pref. §1 No general characters of parties..can be so fully and exactly drawn, as to comprehend all the several members of'em. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. 27 After we had answered these general questions, they began to be more particular. 1727De Foe Prot. Monast. 6 He gave me a general Invitation to come one Day or other and take a Dinner with him. 1751Jortin Serm. (1771) VII. ii. 29 These are some of the general directions which reason suggests with respect to God and man. 1801G. Rose Diaries (1860) I. 293 The conversation was quite general. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 464 The first words being general, the putting afterwards of a particular case will make no difference. 1833I. Taylor Fanat. v. 124 What is special we can see; what is general escapes our notice. 1841Myers Cath. Th. iii. §3. 8 Divine communications of a form the most general and of a character the most direct. 1890Bowen in Law Times Rep. LXIII. 690/1 It seems to me that the judge really intended to give the plaintiff the general costs of the action.
b. Of a rule, law, principle, formula, description: Applicable to a variety of cases; true or purporting to be true for all or most of the cases which come under its terms. In late use often with implied opposition to universal (with which in the older examples it is nearly synonymous): True in most instances, but not without exceptions.
c1391Chaucer Astrol. Contents ⁋5 The general rewles of theorik in Astrologie. 1486Bk. St. Albans B j a, Bot that other Rewle is gendral [ed. 1496 generall]. 1563Fulke Meteors (1640) 2 b, It is a generall rule, that that which is once a thing, cannot by changing become nothing. 1638F. Junius Paint. of Ancients 224 There is another generall rule for our Invention propounded by Tullie. 1657R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 53 Yet no rule so general but hath his acception [i.e. exception]. 1732Pope Ess. Man i. 142 The first Almighty Cause Acts not by partial, but by gen'rall Laws. 1853Lytton My Novel x. xx, I guess you are right there, as a general rule. 1891Law Times XCI. 405/2 They..should have general principles to guide them.
c. Of a word, name, etc.: Applicable to each of the individuals or species forming a class or genus; in Logic = common 17 a. Of a concept, notion: Including only those features that are common to the individuals of a class, to the neglect of the points in which they differ.
1551T. Wilson Logike C iij b, The Predicamentes, called in Englishe Generall wordes. 1581E. Campion in Confer. iii. (1584) Y, It must not be..taken for a speciall substance, but genericè, for a generall being. 1690Locke Hum. Und. iii. iii. (1695) 227 How came we by general Terms, or where find we those general Natures they are supposed to stand for? 1732Berkeley Alciphr. vii. §7 Words become general by representing an indefinite number of particular ideas. 1785Reid Int. Powers 432 Every substantive that has a plural number is a general word. 1803Naval Chron. X. 111 In..India we feed our horses with a species of vetch..; Europeans call it by the general name of gram. 1822I. Taylor Elem. Th. 31 An indistinct remembrance formed by several similar objects is called a general notion. 1843Mill Logic i. ii. §3 A general name is one which can be predicated of each individual of a multitude. 1870Jevons Elem. Logic iii. 18 General terms..are applicable in the same sense equally to any one of an indefinite number of objects which resemble each other in certain qualities. 1875Fortnum Majolica ii. 20 The general term..Majolica, has long been and is still erroneously applied to all varieties of glazed earthenware of Italian origin.
d. Law. general issue, general tail († tail general) (see quots.).
1574tr. Littleton's Tenures 4 b, Tenant in taile general is, where landes or tenements been geeven to a man and to hys heires of his body begotten. 1628Coke On Litt. 26 a, If tenements be giuen..to the heires of the body of the man; In this case the husband hath an estate in generall taile. 1768Blackstone Comm. III. 305 These pleas are called the general issue, because, by importing an absolute and general denial of what is alleged in the declaration, they amount at once to an issue.
e. Math., Cryst., etc. (See quots.)
1823H. J. Brooke Introd. Crystallogr. 258 General symbol pApp , represents the classes e, f, & g. If p > 1, the symbol represents class f. [etc.]. 1858Todhunter Algebra xxxvi. 291 This expression is called the general term, because by putting 1, 2, 3..successively for r, it gives us in succession the 2nd, 3rd, 4th..terms.
6. a. Prefixed to personal designations of function or employment: Not restricted to one department; concerned with, or skilled in, all the branches of one's business or pursuit: said, e.g. of a scholar, an artist. † Also, in 16–17th c., without any title of function: Widely accomplished (obs.). general dealer: a merchant or shopkeeper who deals in many kinds of goods; similarly general merchant, general agent, etc. general practitioner (see quot. 1885); see also practitioner 1 b. general servant: a maid-of-all-work.
1552R. Ascham Let. 12 July in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden 1843) 12 Taking away such a general and onely man as Mr. Cheeke is. 1590Greene Mourn. Garm. 5 Thus wit augmented by experience, shall make me a generall man fitte any way to profite my common-wealth. 1601Holland Pliny II. 547 A general man he was like himselfe still, that is to say, his craftsmaster in all, and as good in one thing as another. 1655Stanley Hist. Philos. i. (1701) 51/1 Be general. 1658W. Sanderson Graphice 67 Hans Holbin who in all..Painting either in Oyle, Distemper, or Limning, was so generall an Artist, as never to follow any man, nor any one able to imitate him. 1697Dryden Virg. Life (1721) I. 72 He became the most general Scholar that Rome ever bred. 1711Steele Spect. No. 2 ⁋3 A general Trader of good Sense, is pleasanter Company than a general Scholar. 1830J. F. Cooper Water Witch II. i, A man whose misdeeds in commerce are as universally noted as the stoppage of a general dealer. 1844G. Raymond Mem. R. W. Elliston I. xiv. 348 The general practitioner had an exceedingly pretty wife. 1859Dickens in All Year Round 13 Dec. 3/1 The general-dealer opposite..is opening his shop. 1879St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 21 Nine females..were admitted for anæmia. Six were housemaids or general servants. 1885Syd. Soc. Lex., General practitioner, a medical practitioner who does not restrict himself to one branch of the profession. 1890Gross Gild Merch. I. 129 The company of merchants included both general dealers and such as traded in only one kind of wares. 1891General dealer [see dealer 3].
†b. Affable to all. (Associated with free; perh. a colloq. phrase.) Obs.
1596Edw. III, ii. i. 16 Bid her be free and general as the sun. 1611B. Jonson Catiline i. i. C 4 a, Are you coying it, When I command you to be free, and generall To all? 1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. ii. 107/1 She's generall, she's free, she's liberall Of hand and purse, she's open vnto all.
7. a. Not belonging to, or confined to, some limited or special class; miscellaneous. general knowledge, knowledge of miscellaneous facts, information, etc. (cf. quot. 1860 under sense 8 a); general public, the ordinary people; = public n. 1 b; general (theory of) relativity: see relativity.
1639tr. Du Bosq's Compl. Woman 23 To make good choice of those they meane to converse with more familiarly, and not to have a general acquaintance with persons of al sorts. 1650W. Rowe Let. to Cromwell 28 Dec. in Nickolls St. Papers addr. Cromw. (1743) 43, I have had some converse with him in general Society. 1808J. Webster Nat. Phil. 6 The general class of society has become more interested in its pursuit. 1820Hazlitt in London Mag. II. 250/2 Books of liberal taste and general knowledge. 1822–34Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) III. 297 Neither musk nor opium..has been found successful in general practice. 1824Scott St. Ronan's vii, In general society, they are like commercial people in presence of their customers. 1834G. Crabbe Jr. in Poetical Wks. G. Crabbe I. iv. 97 The fund of general knowledge which my father gradually showed..much surprised his patron. 1851Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 254 Platform weighing machine..Railways, and for general weighing in warehouses. 1854J. E. Millais Let. 10 May in M. Lutyens Millais & Ruskins (1967) 210 This is what a number of comfortable, portly, philosophers will say merely in direct opposition of the general public. 1862H. Spencer First Princ. i. iv. §24 Not very intelligible to the general reader. 1863Kingsley Water-Bab. 316 Tom told him that he knew no general information. 1877Tyndall in Daily News 2 Oct. 2/4 Never..has this longing been more liberally responded to, both among men of science and the general public. 1895Law Times Rep. LXXIII. 156/2 The Kirkmichael left Liverpool with a general cargo on board. 1906Daily Chron. 25 Jan. 4/7 A Scriptural general knowlege paper. 1934Discovery Nov. 317/2 When the general public finds that the railways are providing local services much faster and no dearer than motor bus companies,..it will begin to return..to the railway. 1938F. B. Young Dr. Bradley Remembers (1940) iii. 124 That same Act of Parliament..had decreed that a medical student, before registration, must first pass an examination in General Knowledge. 1952G. Raverat Period Piece iv. 65 When I went away to school, [I] was asked in a General Knowledge Paper, which were my three favourite composers.
b. general shop, general store (cf. general dealer in 6): one in which miscellaneous goods are sold. general ship (see quot. 1867).
1835J. Martin Descr. Virginia 134 A neat village..containing 16 dwelling houses, 3 general stores, 2 groceries. 1836General shop [see store n. 12 a]. 1851Lyttelton Times (N.Z.) 17 May 7/3 He has opened a General Store. 1861Dickens Gt. Expect. I. vii. 92 Mr. Wopsle's great-aunt..kept—in the same room—a little general shop. 1865― Mut. Fr. iv. vi. 206 At the general shop, at the butcher's and at the public house. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., General ship, where persons unconnected with each other load goods on board, in contradistinction to a chartered ship. 1883Sir W. B. Brett in Law Times Rep. (1884) XLIX. 768/2 This..is a ship taken up by the charterer for the purpose of carrying two or three different sorts of cargo, but it is not a general ship. 1948Bangor (Maine) Daily News 28 July 1 Shopping at the general store here to replenish his food supply.
c. Freq. in phrases used attrib., as general-fish, general-produce, general-purpose, general-purposes, general-utility.
1860Leisure Hour 10 May 294 These are the ‘general utility’ men, as they are sometimes facetiously called by those whose genius is not quite so versatile. 1888J. C. Harris Free Joe, etc. 127 One of the many ‘general-utility’ men that improved methods enable the high schools and colleges to turn out. 1894Country Gentlemen's Catal. 230/2 Patent general purpose drill. 1909Westm. Gaz. 11 Feb. 3/3 The largest fruit and general produce merchants in New York. Ibid. 3 Apr. 16/4 As the president of this excellent club, he spoke of the good trout and general-fish waters it leased on the Surrey Wey. Ibid. 28 Aug. 16/4 The Thames is in good condition, and general-fish anglers are promised a continuance of sport. 1911F. O. Bower Plant-Life 58 It served as a general-purposes shoot. 1923Kipling Land & Sea Tales 143 A general-utility shed. 1933Meccano Mag. Mar. 193/1 It [sc. the ‘Tiger’ engine] has been designed for use in general purpose and torpedo-carrying aircraft. 1937B. H. L. Hart Europe in Arms x. 131 The plans of the General Staff were dominated by the idea of contributing a general-purpose force of three army corps to join the French field armies. 1966Listener 3 Nov. 668/1 German's generation was content with one general-purposes ‘olde’ manner. 1968Fox & Mayers Computing Methods i. 7 The Runge-Kutta method..is a useful general-purpose routine for non-linear first-order equations.
8. a. Comprising, dealing with, or directed to the main elements, features, purposes, etc., with neglect of unimportant details or exceptions.
1563Fulke Meteors (1640) 1 b, But first wee must be occupied a little in the generall description of the same, that afterward shall be particularly intreated of. 1580Sidney Arcadia i. (1629) 21 Palladius hauing gotten his general knowledge of the party against whom, as he had already of the party for whom he was to fight, he [etc.]. 1590Spenser F.Q. Pref., The generall end therefore of all the booke is to fashion a gentleman or noble person in vertuous and gentle discipline. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iii. 23 My Lord of Yorke commends the plot, and the generall course of the action. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxvii. 160 The Law regardeth not the particular, but the general inclination of mankind. 1719J. Richardson Art Criticism 145 As in all the Stages of our Lives there is a General Resemblance. 1798Ferriar Illustr. Sterne iv. 119, I shall try to give the reader a general idea. 1820Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. I. 539 In its general form, it [the squalus borealis] very much resembles the dog-fish. 1851Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 860 We should first obtain a general idea of the number and position of the several mountain ranges of India. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 74 A general knowledge was all that could be expected. 1865Mill in Morn. Star 6 July, What I will do now is to give you an idea of the general tendency of my political opinions. 1880Geikie Phys. Geog. v. 349 Climate..must follow the same general distribution over the earth's surface.
b. Not entering into details; indefinite, vague. Opposed to precise.
1601J. Manningham Diary (Camden) 18 Counterfayting a letter as from his lady, in generall termes. 1729Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 135 Every man hath a general desire of his own happiness. 1824Scott St. Ronan's v, Some general remarks on fishing and field-sports. 1884Manch. Exam. 10 May 5/6 The dispute..was alluded to only in the most general and distant terms.
9. a. Mil. Prefixed to the designation of an officer to indicate superior rank and extended command. general officer, one above the rank of colonel.
1576J. Sandford Gard. Pleas. 164 When Paulus Aemilius was generall Capytayne in Greece for the Romans. 1601Holland Pliny II. 483 Fabricius..forbad expressly, that any warriours and Generall captains should haue in plate more than one drinking boll or goblet, and a saltsellar. 1626in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1659) I. 303 General-Governor of the Seas and Ships of the said Kingdom. 1681Nevile Plato Rediv. 259 Chancellor, Judges, General Officers of an Army, and the like. 1710Lond. Gaz. No. 4650/1 Then marched the Majors, Lieutenant-Colonels, Colonels, and General-Adjutants. 1781in Simes Mil. Guide (ed. 3) 4 The inactivity of the greatest part of our General Officers, during a peace. 1844Regul. & Ord. Army 53 The General Officers intrusted with the Command of Districts are responsible..for [etc.]. 1882Macm. Mag. XLVI. 473 When the General Field-Marshal..was but a captain in the general staff.
b. Prefixed to the designation of a civil or legal functionary. rare.
1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 525 They have another generall Officer or chiefe Justice. 1714Fr. Bk. of Rates 124 The 16th Article of the Lease of the General-Farmer as aforesaid.
10. Standing as the second member in many designations of military officers, as adjutant-, † captain-, lieutenant-, etc. general; of civil and legal officers, as attorney-, controller-, governor-, master-, postmaster-, receiver-, solicitor-, etc. general; also in heir-general, States-General, for all of which see the respective words; hence sometimes attached playfully to ordinary substantives.
1591Proclam. in App. Rep. Secret Committee P.O. (1844) 36 Our Master of the Postes, or the Masters of the Postes Generall of those countreys. 1824Lady Granville Lett. (1894) I. 285 The men are deplorable, which accounts for Mr. Chad being lover general at the Hague. 1878Moulton tr. Winer's N.T. Gram. iii. liii. 543 The assumption that καὶ in the N.T., as וְ in Hebrew, was the conjunction-general.
11. absol. in various adverbial phrases.
†a. as to the general. Generally. Obs.
1654tr. Scudery's Curia Pol. 157 Although the Sea do give leave that some few Fountains do break up, and so water some places of the earth, yet she is unthankful as to the general, and leaveth many vast parts, for want of moisture, to be altogether steril and barren. 1744Eliza Heywood Female Spect. (1748) I. 115 The maxim questionless is just as to the general, but [etc.]. 1745Ibid. (1748) IV. 110 Now these reflections, however just as to the general, are certainly the contrary as to particulars.
†b. for the general (cf. Sp. por lo general). For the most part. Obs.
1615Sandys Trav. 77 The other halfe Iewes and Christians, and those for the generall Grecians. 1645Fuller Good Th. in Bad T. (1841) 28 A loyal subject for the general, though he was no favourite in these particulars. 1751Warburton Lett. (1809) 85 Booksellers..know mankind, for the general, better than authors. 1766F. Blackburne Confessional 31 The Doctors..for the general, have been so tame in the controversy, that [etc.].
c. in general. † (a) In a body, collectively; universally, without exception. Obs.
c1374Chaucer Troylus i. 163 And to the temple, in al hir beste wyse, In general, ther wente many a wight. 1390Gower Conf. III. 1 The grete sinne originall, Which every man in general Upon his birth hath envenimed. c1440Generydes 1691 They dede his pleasure to obeye, Theder they came ichon in generall. c1515Cocke Lorell's B. (Percy Soc.) 7, I wyll reherse here in generall The indulgences that ye haue shall. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 366 Let not the confidence of your friendes in general, be deceived. 1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 27 Commons..or free places of feeding for the poore and others, euen all in generall. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. v. 21 'Twere better she were kist in generall.
† (b) In all respects. Obs.
c1374Chaucer Troylus v. 822 She..was..goodly of hir speche in general. 1608Shakes. Per. v. i. 185 Thou art a grave and noble counsellor, Most wise in general.
(c) Generally; with reference to the whole class of persons or things spoken of; with respect to a subject as a whole; opposed to in particular, in special.
1390Gower Conf. III. 170 As for to speke in generall. c1491Chast. Goddes Chyld. 2 As ferforth as I dare or know of temptacyons I will shewe you in specyall and in general. 1529More Dyaloge i. Wks. 112/1 Somwhat wold I speke of Luther, & his secte ingenerall. 1570Buchanan Ane Admonit. Wks. (1892) 22 Bayth to ȝor l. [your lordships] in speciall and in generall to ye haill communitie. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vii. §1 Whether a Divine Law in generall, or the Law of Moses in particular may be abrogated. 1711Addison Spect. No. 62 ⁋7 Which..is not so properly a Definition of Wit, as of good writing in general. 1712W. Rogers Voy. 318 The Air in general is mild, temperate and healthful. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 317 Of Spinous Fishes in General. 1812Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 71 The expansive power of liquids in general is greater than that of solids. 1893Bookman June 78/1 The appointment..gave great dissatisfaction to the English world of letters in general and to Cary in particular.
† (d) Without specific reference. Obs.
1621Burton Anat. Mel. i. iii. i. ii. (1651) 185 If two talk together..or tell a tale in generall, he thinks presently they mean him.
(e) For the most part; as a general rule; commonly, usually.
1726G. Shelvocke Voy. (1757) 404 Our new visitors, who behaved themselves in general, very quietly. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. 191 It is in general hereditary, or descendible to the next heir, on the death or demise of the last proprietor. 1851Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 963 The curled maple..is met with where the common or sugar maple grows, but in general more on rocky ground. 1863H. Cox Instit. iii. viii. 703 Not [required] to serve abroad, nor in general to go out of their own counties.
d. in the general. Generally; in general terms; on a general view; in the main, without considering details or occasional exceptions; without specific reference or application. Somewhat arch.
1620E. Blount Horæ Subsec. 286 This course, in the generall, is to be esteemed..a prouident one. 1621S. Ward Happiness of Practice (1627) 43 You haue said much in the generall of Doing: what say you in particular to this Nation? 1671M. Bruce Good News in Evil Times (1708) 4 As long as thou thinks [sic] it spoken in the General, or to another Person, thou can get no good of it. 1677Hale Prim. Orig. Man. 289 This Opinion is in the general true. 1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) VII. 337 Your observation, in the general, is, undoubtedly, just. 1806R. Cumberland Mem. (1807) II. 203 It is only true in some partiuclar instances, not in the general. 1834J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (1837) I. xiii. 200 It is easy to speak of human nature as corrupt in the general. 1860― Lett. (1891) II. 105 What occurred in the event I recollect well enough in the general.
B. n.
I. With reference to things, collective unities, etc.
†1.
a. The adj. used absol. (see also A. 11): The total, the whole, or in weaker sense, the most part, the majority. Obs.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 342 For the successe (Although particular) shall giue a scantling Of good or bad, vnto the Generall. 1608Topsell Serpents (1658) 795 This must be understood of the general. 1670G. H. Hist. Cardinals Pref. A iij, Nor is it to be expected the general will submit to a particular. 1771F. Burney Early Diary (1889) I. 131 The general of people at his time of life are confined by infirmities.
b. The people in general; the public; the multitude. arch.
1601Shakes. Jul. C. ii. i. 12, I know no personall cause, to spurne at him, But for the generall. 1602― Ham. ii. ii. 457 The Play I remember pleased not the Million, 'twas Cauiarie to the Generall. 1679Dryden Troilus Ep. Ded., That which has been done already..must be digested into Rules and Method, before it can be profitable to the General. 1832Austin Jurispr. (1879) I. iv. 161 The..individual persons who constitute that public or general to which my attention is directed. 1880Disraeli Endym. lxxviii, He..understood all about rolling stock and permanent ways, and sleepers and branch lines, which were then cabalistic terms to the general. 1897Sat. Rev. 5 June 623/1 It has lessened the respect with which the House of Commons has hitherto been regarded by the general.
2. a. Something that is general; chiefly pl. general facts, notions, or principles; general propositions or statements, generalities; general points or heads; items of general news. Now rare (chiefly in express antithesis to particulars, etc.).
1566T. Stapleton Ret. Untr. Jewel iii. 78 The deceitefull and wrangler walketh in generalles. 1581Campion in Confer. ii. (1584) H b, You must not bring a particular to ouerthrowe a generall. a1598Rollock Wks. (Wodrow Soc.) II. ix. 107 No man will lay down fairer generals out of the Word of God. 1627in Crt. & Times Chas. I (1848) I. 207 He desired to know his charge and accusers, but obtained no more at that time than this general, that [etc.]. a1635Sibbes in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. lxxxvii. 3 It is enough to give you the generals of the delights and excellencies of God's house. 1642Bridge Wound. Consc. Cured i. 13 Then hee proceeds to propound three Generalls. 1646A. Henderson in Chas. I's Wks. (1662) 173 Concerning the application of the Generalls of an Oath to the particular case now in hand. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §11 Those Accusations..are commonly stuffed with many odious Generals, that the Proofs seldom make good. 1671M. Bruce Good News in Evil Times (1708) 57 Now there is only one General I shall here mark for a Preface, and it is this. That [etc.]. 1672Wilkins Nat. Relig. 4 Reason..descendeth from generalles to specialles, and from them to particulars. 1703Penn in Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem. IX. 270 To whom I refer thee as to generals and common news. 1754Richardson Grandison (1781) VI. xxii. 120 My memory serves but for a few generals; and those I will not trouble you with. 1773Ld. Monboddo Language (1774) I. i. i. 5 What therefore constitutes the essential part of language..is the expression of generals, or ideas. 1793Beddoes Math. Evid. 43 That perversion of the human understanding, which the study of generals occasioned. 1794J. Hutton Philos. Light, etc. 142 The moment that an animal perceives in natural events a general, that moment natural philosophy is in his mind begun. 1804W. Tennant Ind. Recreat. (ed. 2) II. 183, I am abundantly sensible..of keeping too much to generals in my description of the Hindoo farming. 1838–9Hallam Hist. Lit. III. iii. iii. §104. 90 It is by means of our knowledge of particulars that we ascend to generals. 1864Bowen Logic viii. 233 Individual truths are proved by deduction from these generals.
†b. A general view or description. Obs.
1611Speed Th. Gt. Brit. Index, Scotlands kingdome in one Generall.
†c. That which is common to all. Obs.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 180 All our abilities, gifts, natures, shapes, Seuerals and generals of grace exact.
†d. pl. Oxford University. to answer generals, do generals: to take part in the disputations which corresponded to the examination now called Responsions. Obs.
1650Wood Life 5 Apr. (O.H.S.) I. 163 He answered Generals in the public schools, and James Bricknell opposed him. 1684Wilding in Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 260 For doing Generalls..00 03 00. 1841G. Peacock Stat. Cambr. 74 In the university of Oxford, before..1800..the disputationes in Parviso were called doing generals.
e. U.S. great generals, small generals: The general charges furnished respectively (a) by the owner of a fishing vessel, e.g. wood, water, knives, lights, salt, bait, etc.; (b) by the crew, e.g. provisions, lines, hooks, etc.
1889in Century Dict.
†3. Logic, etc. = genus. Obs.
1551T. Wilson Logike B v b, The chief general is so, that where as it is in the head of al & aboue al it can neuer become inferiour to be of any kinde or sort in thinges..The middle general, is the same that beyng comprehended betwixt the chief general and the lowest kinde or sort in thynges, maye be also some kynde or fourme it self. 1628T. Spencer Logick 131 The generall is either supreame, or inferior. The speciall is either middlemost, or lowest. 1705C. Purshall Mech. Macrocosm 82 From the various Combinations..of these Particles..Result the Three Great Generals, viz. Animals, Vegitables, and Minerals.
†4. Painting. ? A ground colour. Obs.
1466Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 212 My mastyr paid to the clerke of Herewyche for ij. li. generall to paynt wyth pavyses, iij. s. 1487–8in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 412, ij li de colore fuluo anglice generall. 1510Ibid. II. 199 Certen coloures as in whiteled redled generall. 1545Rates Custom-ho. B iij b, Generall the C pounde xs. a1618Rates Merchandizes D ij, Druggs vocat... Generall the pound vjd. 1662Stat. Ireland (1765) II. 400 General the pound 1s.
5. Mil. Also in French form générale, generale. ‘Formerly a beat of the drum for the assembly of all the troops preparatory to a march, battle, or action’ (Voyle).
1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), A General..a Beat of Drum so call'd [etc.]. 1708Lond. Gaz. No 4452/3 The French..did not beat their General 'till three a Clock in the Afternoon. 1749Fielding Tom Jones vii. xv, But hark, the general beats. 1794Coleridge Robespierre iii, The dreadful generale Thunders through Paris. 1803Wellington Let. to Marq. Wellesley in Gurw. Desp. (1837) II. 394 note, The generale was beat at half-past four, the assembly at half-past five, and we marched immediately after. 1843Whistle Binkie (Scot. Songs) (1890) II. 86 The drum has beat the General. a1845T. O. Davis Battle-Eve of Brigade 16 The generale's beating on many a drum.
II. As the designation of a person.
6. Eccl. The chief of a religious order.
More fully superior-general (q.v.); in early med.Lat. use we find abbas generalis, magister generalis, but the elliptical use of the adj. had already in the 12th c. given rise to generalis as a n.
1561J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573) 116 b, The master of the whole order [of Fryers minors], whom they call generall hath beene heard many tymes, to offer the Pope..thirtie thousand fightyng men. 1579Fulke Heskins' Parl. 382 He is an English man, generall or prouinciall of Friers preachers. 1601Imp. Consid. Sec. Priests (1675) 70 It would seem a very strange matter to the Provincial or General of that Society. 1687Lond. Gaz. No. 2263/1 The 6th Instant the Jesuits chose for the General of their Order, Father Thyrso Gonzales a Spaniard. a1843Southey Comm.-pl. Bk. Ser. ii. (1849) 43 The blessed Jordan..who was the second general of the Dominicans [etc.]. 1869–70H. Vaughan Year Prepar. Vatican Council iii. 17 After the Bishops came the mitred Abbots..with the Generals of the Religious Orders.
7. a. Mil. A general officer (see A 9); originally, the commander of the whole army, subsequently applied also to commanders of divisions. In mod. use, designating an officer as holding definite military rank, in which application it is also used as a title prefixed to the name (often written Gen.).
In the British army the word officially denotes an officer holding the rank next below that of field-marshal. In popular and untechnical use, it is extended to those of the two next lower grades lieutenant-general and major-general; in these titles, and perh. in brigadier-general, the second element of the compound is historically not the n. but the adj.
1576Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 64 Pericles was..victor..in nine great foughten fields, Wherof he was the general in charge. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. ii. 7 Successe vnto our valiant Generall. 1601― All's Well iii. iii. 1 The General of our horse thou art. 1646Buck Rich. III, ii. 60 To..give the Earle, being Generall of his Forces, the Signall of a Combate. 1705Addison Campaign 296 The War's old Art each private Soldier knows, And with a Gen'rals Love of Conquest glows. 1781in Simes Mil. Guide (ed. 3) 5 Many of our Generals..are either dead, too old, or too infirm, to undergo the fatigues of war. 1824W. Irving T. Traveller I. 206, I was like a general looking down upon a place he expects to conquer. 1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan III. 128 They spurred along..and led off their general in chief by main force from the field. 1886Seeley Napoleon I, vi. 228 It [Waterloo] was perhaps on both sides rather a soldiers' than a general's battle.
appositive.1735Thomson Liberty iv. 699 Prevail'd the General-King, and Chieftain-Thanes.
transf. and fig.1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. iii. 219 Then will I be general of your woes, And lead you even to death. c1600― Sonn. cliv, So the Generall of hot desire, Was sleeping by a Virgin hand disarm'd. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage I. vii. iii. 560 The worthiest Generall..against Errour that ever we have had. 1893W. Forbes-Mitchell Remin. Gt. Mutiny 223 The provost-marshal's cat is the only general to restore order in times like those. 1897Pall Mall G. 19 May 2/1 The fighting men in genuine strenuous party warfare are somebodies, and their generals understand and never fail to remember it.
b. With reference to the degree of skill in the command of an army; a tactician, strategist.
c1615Fletcher Mad Lover i. i, A man indeed: a Generall Generall, A soule conceived a soldier. 1707Addison Pres. St. War 23 The Generals on the Enemy's side..in the Eyes of their own Nation..are inferior to several that have formerly commanded the French armies. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 271 He was a complete general. 1781in Simes Mil. Guide (ed. 3) 5 It is experience that makes the General. 1843Prescott Mexico vii. v. (1864) 456 Cortez was certainly a great general. 1865Kingsley Herew. xviii, He began praising his skill as a general.
c. General February, General Fevrier, General January, General Janvier or General Winter: personifications of wintry months, alluding to their effect upon military campaigns, etc.
1855Punch 10 Mar. 95 Russia has two generals in whom she can confide—Generals Janvier and Fevrier. 1908Kipling Lett. to Family (1920) 159 Here, General January will stiffen him up. 1919Mr. Punch's Hist. Great War 20 ‘General Janvier’ is doing his worst, but our men are sticking it out though slush and slime. 1926B. Pares Hist. Russia xviii. 339 Nicholas had placed his hopes in ‘General January’ and ‘General February’, that is to say in the severity of a Russian winter. 1966A. Firth Tall, Balding, Thirty-Five v. 63 When the crunch came in 1941 he [sc. Stalin] owed a good deal to General Winter. 1967D. G. Chandler Campaigns Napoleon xiv. lxxi. 815 Time was playing into the hands of the Russians by bringing ‘General Winter’ even closer.
d. The head of the Salvation Army; spec. General William Booth, its founder.
1883All about Salv. Army 26 If the General were to be removed by death to-morrow, his successor, without a minute's delay, would step into his position. 1884W. Booth General's Lett. (1890) 18 Go to the crowd of sinners, or spot them individually..because out of them you may make Lieutenants, and Captains, and Majors, and Generals. 1886― Orders & Regul. Salv. Army 165 The General must and will appoint his own successor—each successive General doing the same. 1959Chambers's Encycl. XII. 177/1 The general..no longer has the right of nominating his successor.
†8. Naut. = admiral. Also general of the sea, general at (the) sea. Obs.
1589Drake's W. Ind. Voy. 5 The Generall commaunded all the Pinnaces with the ship boates to be manned. 1598tr. Linschoten in Arb. Garner III. 15 A great navy of ships was prepared in Lisbon, whose General was the Marquis of Santa Cruz. 1600E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 25 Diego de Sosa was made generall at the sea. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. ii. 3 A Fleet of five Ships, whereof there was no General. 1660Chas. II in Clarendon Hist. Reb. xvi. §201 To Our Trusty and Well-beloved General Monk, and General Mountague, Generals at Sea, to be communicated to the Fleet. 1702Lond. Gaz. No. 3829/2 The Count de Tholouse, Great Admiral of France, is made General of all the Naval Forces of Spain. 1717tr. Frezier's Voy. S. Sea 198 The General of the Sea, or Admiral.
9. colloq. A general servant, a maid-of-all-work.
1884Pall Mall G. 10 May 6/1 Poor little generals, fighting the daily fight against dirt and dust. 1889Athenæum 2 Nov. 593/2 Liza is a true London ‘general’, not a Cornish lass, as her disloyalty to her young mistress shows.
Add:[A.] [1.] [a.] general paresis: see *paresis n. 1 b.
▸ general counsel n. Law (chiefly N. Amer.) the principal lawyer of a legal department, usually in a corporation or government body.
1869Blairsville (Pa.) Press (Electronic text) 4 June There has recently been some change in the arrangement of the officers of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company... Joseph Leslay has been appointed Secretary,..Theodore Cuyler, *General Counsel. 1941A. W. Macmahon et al. Admin. Federal Work Relief ii. 46 Jerome Frank, then general counsel for the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, participated briefly in the proceedings. 2006Mergers & Acquisitions Rep. (Nexis) 23 Oct. The company dismissed its general counsel..as a result of the investigation.
▸ General National Vocational Qualification n. Educ. (now hist.) (in England, Wales, and N. Ireland) a qualification introduced in 1992 and offered by schools and colleges in a range of vocational skills, at various levels, of which Intermediate and Advanced levels correspond to standard GCSE and GCE A levels respectively; abbreviated GNVQ; cf. National Vocational Qualification n. at national adj. and n. Special uses, Scottish Vocational Qualification n. at Scottish adj. and n. Additions.
From September 2000, Advanced GNVQs were known as vocational A-levels. GNVQs were permanently phased out between 2005 and 2007.
1991Daily Tel. 9 Oct. 8/1 The courses, provisionally titled *General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs), will be available from next September in five subject areas. 1997Northern Echo (Electronic ed.) 22 Nov. Because the college was also a pilot centre for the General National Vocational Qualifications scheme, funding was received from the European Union, which provided 83,000 for equipment and information technology training opportunities. 2001Daily Mail (Electronic ed.) 25 Jan. Vocational GCSEs,..to replace the General National Vocational Qualification, would be introduced by 2002 in subjects such as leisure and tourism, engineering, art and design and business and manufacturing.
▸ General Packet Radio Service n. Telecomm. a wireless telecommunication service for GSM mobile phones which uses packet-switching technology and provides relatively fast data transfer, allowing Internet connection; abbreviated GPRS.
1994Wireless Networks: Proc. ICCC Regional Meeting Wireless Computer Networks 3 929/1 ETSI [= European Telecommunications Standards Institute] is considering a possible introduction of a *General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) in GSM. 2005IEEE Trans. Information Technol. Biomed. 9 35 It then transmits digital data over a Bluetooth link to a mobile telephone that uses the General Packet Radio Service. 2007I. Troshani & S. R. Hill in G. Karmakar & L. S. Dooley Mobile Multimedia Communications vi. 89/2 The General Packet Radio Service constitutes an improvement over the GSM technology.
▪ II. general, v. rare.|ˈdʒɛnərəl|
(Cf. out-general.)
[f. the n.]
trans. To act as a general to.
1849C. Brontë Shirley iii, Crime and the lost archangel generalled the ranks of Pharaoh. 1889Pall Mall G. 1 Mar. 6/2 Mrs. Bancroft has not only arranged nearly every group, but she has literally generalled the whole into completeness. |