From Latin 'generālis' (of the whole kind), from 'genus' (birth) — linking kinship to universality, and eventually to military command.
A commander of an army or a high-ranking military officer; (as adjective) affecting or concerning all or most people, things, or places; not specialized or limited.
From Old French 'general,' from Latin 'generālis' meaning 'of or belonging to a kind or class, universal,' from 'genus' (birth, race, kind, class), from PIE *ǵenh₁- (to beget, to give birth). The military title 'general' arose from the phrase 'capitaine général' (captain general — the commander of the whole force, not just one unit), first used in the late medieval period. The underlying logic: a 'general' is someone whose authority extends to the whole 'genus' — the entire class — rather than a particular