Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - generalize

also -ise BrE v 1 to make a general statement about a number of different things or people without mentioning any details  (It's difficult to generalize about the typical Republican voter.) 2 to form a general principle or opinion after considering only a small number of facts or examples  (It's stupid to generalize and say that all young people are rude.) + from  (We can generalize from the samples and conclude that nitrogen levels have increased.) 3 formal to put a principle, statement, or rule into a more general form so that it covers a larger number of examples  (I will first illustrate it by a simple example and then generalize it.)