generalcyn.
/ˈdʒɛn(ə)rəlsi/, /ˈdʒɛn(ə)rl̩si/, U.S. /ˈdʒɛn(ə)rəlsi/ 1. The office, rank, or position of general.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer by rank > [noun] > general > position of
generalship1575
generalate1613
generaltya1645
generality1686
generalcy1840
1792 Particular Acct. Insurrection of Negroes in St. Domingo 9 The monster seduces the gang of his benefactor and of his mother, burns and destroys their possessions, and obtains, for this action, a promotion to the generalcy.
1840 Rep. Commissioners into Naval & Mil. Promotion & Retirement VII. 9 Are any colonelcies in the marines held by captains of the navy, and are any generalcies of marines held by flag-officers?
1864 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia IV. xv. i. 7 A Patent of Generalcy.
1962 J. C. Herold Bonaparte in Egypt viii. 226 [Desaix] was made a Brigadier General..thus rising from a sublieutenancy to a generalcy in seven months.
2006 A. L. Hurtado John Sutter xx. 295 The new governor..talked about giving Sutter a generalcy in the state militia.
2. Generals collectively.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer by rank > [noun] > general > collectively
generalcy1865
1865 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia V. xviii. vii. 158 The high Generalcy..mount in the highest haste.
1937 C. W. Elliott Winfield Scott ix. 101 The fireless old Revolutionary generalcy remained in responsible command.
1995 S. Lackey Rebirth Hapsburg Army 157 Two-thirds of the Hapsburg senior generalcy shared Beck's bourgeois background.
2004 D. Hollins Austrian Commanders Napoleonic Wars 5 French Revolutionary propaganda painted the Austrian generalcy as dominated by the German Catholic aristocracy.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1792