Definition of "generic" in English

adjective

1. Very broad; pertaining or appropriate to large classes or groups as opposed to specific instances.

   • Capri pants can be a generic term for any cropped slim pants.

2. Lacking in precision, often in an evasive fashion; vague; imprecise.

3. (pharmacology) Of a product or drug, not having a brand name; nonproprietary in design or contents; fungible with the rest of its class.

4. (taxonomy) Pertaining to genera of life instead of particular species thereof.

   • Holonym: familial
   • Meronyms: infrasubspecific, infraspecific, subspecific, specific
   • There are scores of generic names within the order Decapoda, which includes many sea creatures that are called shrimp.

5. Relating to gender.

6. (grammar, nonstandard) Specifying neither masculine nor feminine; epicene; unisex.

   • Words like salesperson and firefighter are generic.
   • This included criticism of the generic use of man to include men and women.

7. (computing) Of a procedure, written so as to operate on any data type, the type required being passed as a parameter.

8. (geometry) Of a point, having coordinates that are algebraically independent over the base field.

9. Relating to genre.

10. Having no distinguishing characteristics; unoriginal.

    • "That movie was so generic; it was so such a bore"

noun

1. A product sold under a generic name.

2. A wine that is a combination of several wines, or made from a combination of several grape varieties.

3. (grammar) A term that specifies neither male nor female.

4. (toponymy) The part of a toponym that identifies the feature's type.