MEANING
to draw or apply a broader conclusion from particular cases
Use it for
Words that belong together
- generalize from a sample
- generalize to a population
- avoid overgeneralizing
On the page
The small sample makes it difficult to generalize the findings.
The authors generalize from several well-documented cases.
A result from this setting may not generalize to other institutions.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- generalize / generalizes
- Past tense
- generalized
- Past participle
- generalized
- Present participle
- generalizing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- generalize / generalizes
- Present continuous
- am/is/are generalizing
- Present perfect
- have/has generalized
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been generalizing
- Past
- generalized
- Past continuous
- was/were generalizing
- Past perfect
- had generalized
- Past perfect continuous
- had been generalizing
- Future
- will generalize / generalizes
- Future continuous
- will be generalizing
- Future perfect
- will have generalized
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been generalizing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary curation section: Academic. A generalization extends beyond the examined cases and requires justification. It can also mean speaking without specific detail. generalize; generalizes; generalized; generalized; generalizing. British variant: generalise. Related noun: generalization.
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