Generation
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /ˌdʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən/
- Rhymes: -eɪʃən
Origin
From Anglo-Norman generacioun, Middle French generacion, and their source, Latin generÄtiÅ, from generÄre, present active infinitive of generÅ ("to beget, generate"). Compare generate.
Full definition of generation
Noun
generation
(plural generations)- The fact of creating something, or bringing something into being; production, creation. from 14th c.
- 1832, Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology, II:The generation of peat, when not completely under water, is confined to moist situations.
- The act of creating a living creature or organism; procreation. from 14th c.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.10:So all things else, that nourish vitall blood,
Soone as with fury thou doest them inspire,
In generation seek to quench their inward fire. - 1626, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum:Generation by Copulation (certainly) extendeth not to Plants.
- (now US regional) Race, family; breed. from 14th c.
- c. 1605, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, First Folio 1623, I.3:Thy Mothers of my generation: what's she, if I be a Dogge?
- A single step or stage in the succession of natural descent; a rank or degree in genealogy, the members of a family from the same parents, considered as a single unit. from 14th c.This is the book of the generations of Adam - Genesis 5:1Ye shall remain there Babylon many years, and for a long season, namely, seven generations - Baruch 6:3All generations and ages of the Christian church - Richard Hooker
- (obsolete) Descendants, progeny; offspring. 15th-19th c.
- The average amount of time needed for children to grow up and have children of their own, generally considered to be a period of around thirty years, used as a measure of time. from 17th c.
- 2008, Edgar Thorpe, Objective English:Before the independence of India the books of Dr P. K. Yadav presented a fundamental challenge to the accepted ideas of race relations that, two generations later, will be true of the writings of the radical writers of the 1970s.
- A set stage in the development of computing or of a specific technology. from 20th c.
- 2009, Paul Deital, Harvey Deital and Abbey Deital, iPhone for Programmers:The first-generation iPhone was released in June 2007 and was an instant blockbuster success.
- (geometry) The formation or production of any geometrical magnitude, as a line, a surface, a solid, by the motion, in accordance with a mathematical law, of a point or a magnitude; as, the generation of a line or curve by the motion of a point, of a surface by a line, a sphere by a semicircle, etc.
- A specific age range in which each person in that range can relate culturally to one another.Generation X grew up in the eighties, whereas the generation known as the millennials grew up in the nineties.
- A version of a form of pop culture which differs from later or earlier versions.People sometimes dispute which generation of Star Trek is best, including the original and The Next Generation.