geral

Forms

geral m or f (plural gerais)^[1] From the 13th to the 15th century the word was written gẽeral or geeral.^[2][3][4] The spelling geral appears in the 15th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin generālis (“of a kind; general”), written Old Galician-Portuguese gẽeral in the oldest texts.^[3][4][2][1] Nascentes calls it a semi-learned word.^[5] The Latin /n/ between vowels was lost, leaving the nasal vowel of the old form, and the two vowels then merged.^[2][3] The learned doublet is general “general (officer)”, recorded from 1538.^[6][1]

The same Latin word is Galician xeral, Spanish general, Catalan general, French général and Italian generale.^[1] The French word was a borrowing of the 12th century from the Latin philosophical term, which meant “relating to a kind or species” and was opposed to speciālis.^[7] The Latin adjective is formed from genus (“birth, kind”) and -ālis, and the noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os (“race”), from the root *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A charter of 1268 speaks of the seal of o nosso cabidoo gẽeral “our general chapter”, and charters of 1274 have cabidoo geeral.^[2] The Cantigas de Santa Maria and the Crónica Geral also use the word, the latter in fezo sua confessõ gẽeral “made his general confession”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In medieval Galician documents vigairo gẽeral was a church judge and gẽeral rrenũçiaçõ the surrender of all rights.^[2] The phrase en gẽeral meant “in general”.^[2] Bluteau gives the noun geral for the head of a religious order and em geral “in general”.^[8] In the plural, os gerais were the cloisters of the University of Coimbra.^[9] The feminine noun a geral is the cheapest part of a theatre or stadium, and the public there.^[3][10] Brazil added the senses “overhaul of a machine” and “police search”, dar uma geral “to inspect, clean thoroughly”, and, in the plural, the wide grasslands of the interior, the gerais.^[3] In north-eastern Brazil the noun means “bushland”.^[3][11]

Timeline

• 1268 – o nosso cabidoo gẽeral in a charter.^[2]
• 1274 – cabidoo geeral in charters.^[2]
• 1446 – the spelling geeral is still in use.^[3]
• 1400s – the spelling geral.^[3]
• 1542 – gerais in a private letter.^[12]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records geral for the head of a religious order.^[8]
• 1899 – Houaiss's first date for the north-eastern Brazilian sense “bushland”.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. general: applying to a whole class of cases or individuals: uma regra geral.^[3][13][1]
2. Covering all or most of a group; widespread, universal: uma greve geral.^[3][13][1]
3. Not specific or detailed; broad, vague: uma ideia geral do assunto.^[3][9]
4. Holding the highest rank among people with similar titles: diretor geral.^[3][9]
5. (medicine) Affecting the whole body: anestesia geral.^[3]

Noun

1. (masculine) The greater part, the majority.^[3][1]
2. (masculine) The head of a religious order.^[3][10][1]
3. (feminine) The cheapest seats or standing area of a theatre, circus or stadium, and the public there.^[3][10][1]
4. (feminine, Brazil, informal) A thorough check of a machine; a police search.^[3][10]
5. (masculine plural, Brazil) Wide areas of low vegetation in the interior; remote places.^[3]

Pronoun

1. (Brazil, slang) Everybody: A geral foi à festa.^[1]

Word family

• geralmente

Related words

• general
• generalidade
• generalizar
• gênero
• Latin generālis
• Galician xeral

Usage notes

Em geral and no geral mean “generally, as a rule”.^[3] In Portugal geral is also recorded in dialect for a foreman, the one who gives the orders.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. gẽeral
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. geral
4. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. gênero
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. geral
6. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. general
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. général
8. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. geral
9. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4675
10. ^ a b c d Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. geral
11. ^ Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. geral
12. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. geral
13. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. geral
14. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. geral