Meaning & use
Genericize
Last updated
To make a specific brand name or trademark become a general term for a whole category of products.
See it in a sentence
Companies fight hard to prevent their trademarks from being genericized, as happened to 'aspirin' and 'escalator.'
Some worry that 'Google' has been genericized into a verb meaning simply 'to search online.'
A note on using this word
A genericized trademark can lose its legal protection once it becomes the everyday name for an entire product category.
Words with a similar meaning
genericise
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