generic noun

Almost any generic noun can be broken down into named subdivisions.

The use of masculine generic nouns and pronouns in written and spoken language has decreased since the 1960s.

Some derived nouns are used only in restricted senses; often there is a more generic noun not identical in spelling to the verb.

For instance, to combine is to put together, whereas a combine may be a farm machine or a railway car; the generic noun is combination.

The term "Cliff's Notes" has now come into modern usage as a generic noun for similar products.

Note how iPod has crossed into that linguistic Valhalla where brand names like Hoover and Biro become generic nouns.

Once used as a generic noun (comparable to "pale face"), it is now often regarded as either archaic, offensive, or both.

They realised that this required a number of generic nouns to which the adjective would apply: sailboard, boardsailing, planche a voile, segelbrett and so on.

It evolved from the Old French article system, which shared resemblance to modern English and acquired the marking of generic nouns.

This is the XRI equivalent of a generic noun in the English language, for example, +flowers, +phone.