GENERALIZE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does generalize mean? 

• GENERALIZE (verb)
  The verb GENERALIZE has 4 senses:

1. draw from specific cases for more general cases

2. speak or write in generalities

3. cater to popular taste to make popular and present to the general public; bring into general or common use

4. become systemic and spread throughout the body

  Familiarity information: GENERALIZE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GENERALIZE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they generalize    ... he / she / it generalizes   
Past simple: generalized   
Past participle: generalized   
-ing form: generalizing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Draw from specific cases for more general cases

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

extrapolate; generalise; generalize; infer

Hypernyms (to "generalize" is one way to...):

conclude; reason; reason out (decide by reasoning; draw or come to a conclusion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "generalize"):

overgeneralise; overgeneralize (draw too general a conclusion)

universalise; universalize (make universal)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

generalization ((psychology) transfer of a response learned to one stimulus to a similar stimulus)

generalization (reasoning from detailed facts to general principles)

generalization (the process of formulating general concepts by abstracting common properties of instances)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Speak or write in generalities

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

generalise; generalize

Hypernyms (to "generalize" is one way to...):

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue generalize

Antonym:

specify (be specific about)

Derivation:

generalization (an idea or conclusion having general application)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cater to popular taste to make popular and present to the general public; bring into general or common use

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

generalise; generalize; popularise; popularize; vulgarise; vulgarize

Context example:

Relativity Theory was vulgarized by these authors

Hypernyms (to "generalize" is one way to...):

broadcast; circularise; circularize; circulate; diffuse; disperse; disseminate; distribute; pass around; propagate; spread (cause to become widely known)

Verb group:

popularise; popularize (make understandable to the general public)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Become systemic and spread throughout the body

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

generalise; generalize

Context example:

this kind of infection generalizes throughout the immune system

Hypernyms (to "generalize" is one way to...):

distribute; spread (distribute or disperse widely)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

 Context examples 

A genus of poxviruses that cause generalized infections with a rash in mammals.

(Orthopoxvirus, NCI Thesaurus)

They include cardiac and ocular lesions, deafness, microcephaly, mental retardation, and generalized growth retardation.

(Congenital Rubella, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

An inherited condition characterized by generalized hamartomatous multiple polyposis of the intestinal tract.

(Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

Generalized depression of the central nervous system of an infant during the perinatal period.

(Perinatal Central Nervous System Depression, NCI Thesaurus)

Atrophy of the cerebrum caused by focal or generalized neuronal loss.

(Cerebral Atrophy, NCI Thesaurus)

Test names of questionnaire questions associated with the generalized anxiety disorder 7 item questionnaire for the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) Standard Data Tabulation Model (SDTM).

(CDISC Questionnaire GAD-7 Test Name Terminology, NCI Thesaurus)

Generalized Anxiety Disorder - 7 test name.

(CDISC Questionnaire GAD-7 Test Name Terminology, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Signs and symptoms include sudden headache, generalized muscle pain, malaise, and macular skin lesions.

(Epidemic Louse-Borne Typhus, NCI Thesaurus)

An inherited or acquired, localized or generalized disorder affecting the muscles.

(Myotonic Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)

FACIAL NERVE DISEASES generally results in generalized hemifacial weakness.

(Facial Nerve Paralysis, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)