Both Uses of
generic
in
Sycamore Row
- Generic, plain, white, letter-sized, cheap paper, probably purchased in a box of a hundred for five bucks, adorned with a twenty-five-cent stamp honoring an astronaut, and thick enough to contain several sheets of paper.†
p. 26.3
- He will then do a telephone survey using generic names but similar facts to gauge the public's reaction.†
p. 418.5 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(generic) applicable to an entire class or group rather than to a specific thing; or a non-branded version of something such as a medication or grocery
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Less commonly, "generic" can mean: relating to, common to, or descriptive of all members of a genus (as in the genus and species of taxonomy). It is from this meaning that today's more common meaning probably originated.