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Glite Dictionary
🪖 Military leadership 🎖️ A general's position
generalship

generalship

1 8.8
A position or rank of a general in the army
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒɛnərəlˌʃɪp/
translation icon : generalato
  • The general's decisions in battle showcased his exceptional generalship and strategic thinking.

Examples

  • The young officer aspired to achieve the rank of general and gain the generalship of his unit.

  • In the contemporary United States, with its social mobility and common culture, it is hard for us today to imagine what Robert E. Lee felt when he declined to assume the generalship of the Union armies on the grounds that he must fight for his "native state" of Virginia.

    Academic text (1997)

  • Mannerheim had risen to a lieutenant-generalship in the tsar's army, with a brilliant record and many unusual accomplishments.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Her generalship during the military exercise earned her the respect of her peers.

Synonyms

command
vsgeneralship
  • Formal
∞ 4.9

Power to control people or things, often in the military

is the named office or position instead of broad power
commandery
vsgeneralship
  • Archaic
1 9.9

An area or office led by a commander in an order of knights

is focused on the military office rather than order-based jurisdiction
generalcy
vsgeneralship
9.9

The office and power of a top army officer

is the same meaning but differs as an alternative noun form
commandership
vsgeneralship
8.1

The position and power of a leader in charge of soldiers

refers specifically to the office of a higher-ranked military officer

Surface Forms

generalship singular
generalships plural

Morphology

generalship = general (transparent) = general + ship

Formed by the noun 'general' + the productive suffix '-ship' meaning office, rank, or condition, which is directly understandable to learners.

Etymology

Generalship comes from general and the ending -ship, which you also see in friendship and leadership, meaning a 'position' or 'state'. General once meant 'of the whole' and was used for the officer in charge of all the troops, so generalship means the office or authority of a general.