Where does “generality” come from?
Generality derives from English general plus the French suffix -ité, from Latin generalis and the Latin suffix -itas, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ǵenh₁- meaning to beget or produce.
generality (English): The quality of being general; A generalization
Definitions
- The quality of being general; A generalization
Ancestry of “generality”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | general | Including or involving every part or member of a... |
| 2 | Middle English | general | universal, complete; comprehensive, wide-ranging;... |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | general | general |
| 4 | Latin | generalis | general, generic |
| 5 | Latin | genus | birth, origin, lineage, descent; kind, type,... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | genos | lineage, origin |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵénh₁os | race, lineage |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵenh₁- | to produce, to beget, to give birth |