Generalised or generalized?
generalised is an adjective meaning “Alternative spelling of generalized”; generalized is an adjective meaning “Made more general, less specialized”. Wiktionary gives them as spellings of the same word. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) generalized is about 6.2 times as common as generalised.
What is the difference between generalised and generalized?
| generalised | generalized | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, verb | adjective, verb |
| Meaning | Alternative spelling of generalized | Made more general, less specialized Spread throughout or affecting the entire body or body part |
| Example | none recorded | The generalized formula applies to all cases, the specialized one only works on simple problems |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | not recorded |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words | 2.7 times per million words |
Sources: generalised and generalized in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of generalised and generalized
generalised
- 1
Alternative spelling of generalized
generalized
- 1
Made more general, less specialized
The generalized formula applies to all cases, the specialized one only works on simple problems
- 2
Spread throughout or affecting the entire body or body part
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, generalised or generalized?
generalised appears about once in every 2 million words; generalized 2.7 times per million words.
generalised about once in every 2 million wordsgeneralized 2.7 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).