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generalisation

noun

Simple meaning

Formulating general concepts by abstracting common properties of instances.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

jehneruhlihzayshuhn

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈdʒɛnɚəlɪˈzeɪʃən

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The process of formulating general concepts by abstracting common properties of instances

  2. The formulation of general concepts from specific instances by abstracting common properties.

  3. Inductive reasoning from detailed facts to general principles.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Rare
Formality
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The process of formulating general concepts by abstracting common properties of instances

Used this way, generalisation is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Inductive

inductive generalisation

Idea

broad generalisation

Other combinations

empirical generalisationsweeping generalisationgreat generalisationscientific generalisation

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • generalistnounPerson or profession

    A modern scholar who is in a position to acquire more than superficial knowledge about many different interests.

  • generalitynounDerived noun · specialist

    An idea or conclusion having general application.

  • generallyadverbDerived adverb

    Usually.

  • generalizeverbDerived verb

    Draw from specific cases for more general cases.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.