generation

See also: Generation and génération

English

Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *-os
Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os
Proto-Italic *genos
Latin genus
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.
Proto-Italic *-ājō
Proto-Italic *-āō
Latin -ō
Latin generō
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Proto-Indo-European *-is
Proto-Indo-European *-tis
Proto-Indo-European *-Hō
Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō
Proto-Italic *-tiō
Latin -tiō
Latin generātiōlbor.
Old French generacionbor.
▲
Latin generātiōbor.
Middle English generacioun
English generation

    Inherited from Middle English generacioun, from Old French generacion, and its etymon Latin generātiō, from generāre (“to beget, generate”). By surface analysis, generate +‎ -ion.

    Pronunciation

    • (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌd͡ʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən/
    • Audio (US):(file)
    • Rhymes: -eɪʃən
    • Hyphenation: gen‧er‧a‧tion

    Noun

    generation (countable and uncountable, plural generations)

    1. The act of creating something or bringing something into being; production, creation. [from 14th c.]
    2. The act of creating a living creature or organism; procreation. [from 14th c.]
      • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
        So all things else, that nourish vitall blood, / Soone as with fury thou doest them inspire, / In generation seek to quench their inward fire.
      • 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
        Generation by Copulation (certainly) extendeth not to Plants.
      • 1658, Thomas Browne, “The Garden of Cyrus. […]. Chapter V.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, […] Together with The Garden of Cyrus, […], London: […] Hen[ry] Brome […], →OCLC, page 192:
        According to that Cabaliſticall Dogma: If Abram had not had this Letter [i.e., ה (he)] added unto his Name he had remained fruitleſſe, and without the power of generation: […] So that being ſterill before, he received the power of generation from that meaſure and manſion in the Archetype; and was made conformable unto Binah.
    3. (now US, dialectal) Race, family; breed. [from 14th c.]
    4. 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.]
    5. (now obsolete, Nigeria) Descendants, progeny; offspring. [15th–19th c.]
    6. 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.
    7. A set stage in the development of computing or of a specific technology. [from 20th c.]
      • 2009, Paul Deital, Harvey Deital, Abbey Deital, iPhone for Programmers:
        The first-generation iPhone was released in June 2007 and was an instant blockbuster success.
    8. (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, by the motion of a point, of a surface by a line, a sphere by a semicircle, etc.
      the generation of a line or curve
    9. A group of people born in a specific range of years and whose members 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.
    10. 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.
    11. (television) A copy of a recording made from an earlier copy.
      • 2014, K. G. Jackson, G. B. Townsend, TV & Video Engineer's Reference Book:
        With one-inch C format or half-inch Betacam used in the component mode, quality loss through additional generations is not such a problem. In this situation, it would be usual to make the necessary alterations while re-recording onto a third generation master […]
      • 2002, Keith Jack, Vladimir Tsatsoulin, Dictionary of Video and Television Technology, page 131:
        Each generation away from the original or master produces increased degradation in the image quality.
    12. (cellular automata) A single iteration of a cellular automaton rule on a pattern.
      • 1989 November 20, Dean Hickerson, “Life: glider gun origin”, in comp.theory.cell-automata‎[1] (Usenet):
        It runs for 17331 generations before stabilizing as 136 blinkers, 109 blocks, 65 beehives, 18 loaves, 18 boats, 7 ships, 4 tubs, 3 ponds, 2 toads, and 40 gliders.
      • 1999 June 15, hexatron, “A new hexagonal CA with a new glider”, in comp.theory.cell-automata‎[2] (Usenet):
        The glider is fast--it moves 2 cells every 3 generations. There is also a spinning thing (sixty degrees every 21 generations)
      • 2008 June 25, Dave Greene, “Life: B37/S23 - A Chaotic Universe.”, in comp.theory.cell-automata‎[3] (Usenet):
        In B37/S23, it goes symmetrical after 10 ticks, and produces a familiar pair of B-heptominoes after 23 ticks (the next generation after this can be found in the rotor of a standard B3/S23 p46 oscillator):

    Hyponyms

    Derived terms

    Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked‌: "the act of generating or begetting"

    Further reading

    Anagrams

    Danish

    Etymology

    From Latin generatio.

    Noun

    generation c (singular definite generationen, plural indefinite generationer)

    1. generation (organisms or devices born or designed at the same time)

    Declension

    Declension of generation
    common
    gender     		singular plural
    indefinite definite indefinite definite
    nominative generation generationen generationer generationerne
    genitive generations generationens generationers generationernes

    Further reading

    Middle French

    Etymology

    Borrowed from Latin generatio.

    Noun

    generation f (plural generations)

    1. generation (procreation; begetting)
    2. generation (rank or degree in genealogy)

    Swedish

    Etymology

    (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “From English, French, Latin, or other?”)

    Noun

    generation c

    1. a generation
      den yngre generationen
      the younger generation

    Declension

    Declension of generation
    nominative genitive
    singular indefinite generation generations
    definite generationen generationens
    plural indefinite generationer generationers
    definite generationerna generationernas

    Derived terms

    • generationsväxling
    • ungdomsgeneration

    See also

    References

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