generic

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dʒɪˈnɛɹ.ɪk/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French générique,^[2][3][4] or formed in English from Latin gener-, the stem of genus (“race, kind”) (see genus), and -ic,^[5][6] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *gene- (“to give birth, beget”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Belonging to a genus or class, general: 1676 in Barnhart, the OED and MWU, the 1670s in Etymonline.^[5][7][3][6]

Semantic evolution

The noun is first recorded in 1807.^[5][7] Of a name used generally for a type of product, it is from 1849.^[7] A drug name given so that it may be freely used is from 1953,^[7][6] and of groceries without a brand name, often in plain cheap packaging, from 1977.^[7][6] In biology it means relating to a genus, as in the generic name.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 1676 – belonging to a class.^[5]
• 1807 – the noun.^[5]
• 1849 – of a general product name.^[7]
• 1953 – of drugs.^[7]
• 1977 – of unbranded groceries.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Relating to a whole group or class; general.
2. (biology) Of or relating to a genus.
3. Without a trademark or brand name.

Noun

1. A product, such as a drug, sold without a brand name.

Word family

• generically
• genericness
• genericalness
• bigeneric
• intergeneric
• nongeneric
• pseudogeneric
• supergeneric

Related words

• gender
• genus
• genre
• general
• generate

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins