Wiktionary

generally

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English generally, generalliche, equivalent to general +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

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  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɹə.li/, /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.ɹə.li/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɚ.li/, /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɚ.ə.li/, /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɹə.li/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒen.ɹə.li/

Adverb

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generally (comparative more generally, superlative most generally)

  1. Popularly or widely.
    It is generally known that the Earth is round.
  3. As a rule; usually; typically; in most cases.
    I generally have a walk in the afternoon.
    • 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond‎[1]:
      During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant […]
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 2:
      He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.
    • 1922, Michael Arlen, “3/19/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:
      Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house ; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something ; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.
  4. Without reference to specific details.
    Generally speaking …
    • 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:
      “There ain’t no drain of nothing short handy, is there?” said the Chicken, generally. “This here sluicing night is hard lines to a man as lives on his condition.”
      Captain Cuttle proffered a glass of rum […]
  6. In the general case, without exception; in all cases.
    It is generally true that the angles of a triangle sum to 180 degrees.
  7. (obsolete) Collectively; as a whole; without omissions.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From general +‎ -ly (adverbial suffix).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˌdʒɛnəˈraː(l)liː/, /ˈdʒɛnəra(l)liː/, /-liːtʃ(ə)/

Adverb

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generally

  1. exceptionlessly, always (without exception)
  2. widely, usually (as a rule)
  3. generally (without reference to detail)

Descendants

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  • English: generally

References

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