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# generalisation

noun (a generalisation, generalisations; generalisation — uncountable)

«generalisation» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A generalisation is a statement about all or most things of a kind, based on some examples. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/generalisation/#m1)
2. A sweeping generalisation is one that is too broad and unfair, like «all boys hate reading». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/generalisation/#m2)
3. (maths) A generalisation is a rule that works for all cases, like «the sum of two even numbers is always even». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/generalisation/#m3)

### In the lessons

In maths, making generalisations from patterns («each term is 3 more than the last»); in science, conclusions from experiments; in English and PSHE, avoiding unfair generalisations and stereotypes.

### Examples

- It is a generalisation to say that all cats hate water. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/generalisation/#x1)
- From the pattern we made a generalisation: odd plus odd is even. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/generalisation/#x2)
- Be careful with generalisations about people. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/generalisation/#x3)
- Scientists test a generalisation with more experiments. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/generalisation/#x4)
- «Everyone loves pizza» is a generalisation. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/generalisation/#x5)

### Note

UK spelling «generalisation», US «generalization». Countable. Maths: a generalisation must be checked; one counterexample shows it is false.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «generalisation» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/generalisation/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«generalisation» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/generalisation.html) on Mova free.