Etymologically
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generic

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:21. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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