generality
nounUK /ˌd͡ʒɛn.əˈɹæl.ɪ.ti/ · CA, US /ˌd͡ʒɛn.əˈɹæl.ə.ti/
Etymology From Middle English generalite, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French generalité (modern French généralité), from general + -ité; also influenced by Latin generālitās. By surface analysis, general + -ity.
1
The quality of being general.
2
The population in general.
- "You must not come to me," answered her listener, "for a defence of society; I have long since loathed its bitterness as much as I despise its baseness. You cannot know the miserably mean motives that actuate the generality; but the trifles so sought give their own narrowness to the mind."1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Asking for an Invitation”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 25:
3
A generalization.
- He was very vague, speaking only in generalities.
- Synonyms
- oftenness