Word family noun generalization general generalist generality adjective general generalist generalized verb generalize adverb generally
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgeneralizegen‧e‧ral‧ize (also generalise British English) /ˈdʒenərəlaɪz/ ●○○ verb 1 [intransitive]SIMPLE/NOT COMPLICATED to form a general principle or opinion after considering only a small number of facts or examplesgeneralize from She has a tendency to generalize from her husband to all men.2 [intransitive]DETAIL to make a general statement about the whole of a group or thinggeneralize about It is difficult to generalise about the kind of people who come on these courses.3 [transitive] formalALL/EVERYTHING to say that an idea, result etc is related to a larger group Can we generalise this principle?generalize something to something Can the research findings be generalized to a wider population?→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
generalize• The polls show that it is difficult to generalize about which issues were most important to voters.• She's always quick to generalize and put people into categories.• I know I shouldn't generalize, but I do think men find it hard to show their feelings.• Not to generalize, but men want everything and want to commit to nothing.• The study group was very small, and it's hard to generalize from just a few cases.• We can generalize from the example that we have studied.• Physicians are still debating whether to generalize the data on aspirin to women.• Helmholtz generalized what others had suggested, or had established in one context.generalize from• We can generalize from the samples and conclude that nitrogen levels have increased.generalize about• It's difficult to generalize about a subject as broad as world history.• It has always been difficult to generalize about China because it's such a huge country. 