generalization

Etymology

It is formed from English generalize + -ation.^[2][3][4] The OED compares French généralisation, recorded from 1754,^[2] and the Shorter Oxford takes the English word from the French noun, itself from généraliser.^[5] Generalize is formed from general and -ize,^[2][3] and general comes from Old French general and Latin generālis (“relating to all, of a whole class”), from genus (“stock, kind”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action or process of forming a general idea or proposition from particular instances: 1761, in Adam Smith's essay on the first formation of languages.^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

In 1794 the word passed from the process to its result, a general conclusion or inference,^[2][3] which can carry a negative sense when the statement is too broad for the evidence behind it.^[2] The same year it was used for the process of making or becoming general or widespread, and in medicine for the spread of an infection or tumour through the body.^[2] Psychology later used it for a response learned to one stimulus being given to a similar one.^[7][6]

Timeline

• 1761 – the action of forming a general concept from particular instances.^[2][6][3]
• 1794 – a general conclusion or inference; also the process of becoming widespread.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A general statement, idea or principle drawn from particular cases, often one that is too broad: His claim that all teenagers are lazy is a sweeping generalization.^[7][6][2]
2. The act or process of generalizing.^[7][6][2]
3. In logic, the derivation of a general statement from a particular one.^[7]
4. In psychology, the giving of a learned response to a stimulus similar to the one it was learned for.^[7][6]
5. In medicine, the spread of an infection or tumour through the body.^[2]

Word family

• overgeneralization

Related words

• generalize
• general
• genus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins