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general

Pronunciation: /ˈd͡ʒɛn.(ə.)ɹəl/

The English word “general” has 14 meanings listed here.

adjective

Including or involving every part or member of a given or implied entity, whole, etc.; common to all, universal.
Applied to a person (as a postmodifier or a normal preceding adjective) to indicate supreme rank, in civil or military titles, and later in other terms; pre-eminent.
Prevalent or widespread among a given class or area; common, usual.
Not limited in use or application; applicable across a broad range.
Giving or consisting of only the most important aspects of something, ignoring minor details; indefinite.
Not of a specific class; miscellaneous.

noun

The holder of a senior military title, originally designating the commander of an army and now a specific rank falling under field marshal (in the British army) and below general of the army or general of the air force in the US army and air forces.
A great strategist or tactician.
A general fact or proposition; a generality.
The head of certain religious orders, especially Dominicans or Jesuits.
The equivalent of a king in Chinese chess, the xiangqi piece that is confined to the palace, moves orthogonally one point at a time, and whose loss decides the game.
Synonym of admiral, a senior naval title, a great naval strategist or tactician.

verb

To lead (soldiers) as a general.

adverb

In a general or collective manner or sense; in most cases; upon the whole.

Etymology

From Middle English general, in turn from Anglo-Norman general, generall, Middle French general, and their source, Latin generālis, from genus (“class, kind”) + -ālis (“-al”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.