generation
See also: Generation and génération
English
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman generacioun, Middle French generacion, and their source, Latin generātiō, from generāre, present active infinitive of generō (“to beget, generate”). Compare generate.
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)
- 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.
- 1832, Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology, II:
- 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.
- 1658, Thomas Browne, “The Garden of Cyrus. […]. Chapter V.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, […] Together with The Garden of Cyrus, […], London: Printed for Hen[ry] Brome […], OCLC 48702491; reprinted as Hydriotaphia (The English Replicas), New York, N.Y.: Payson & Clarke Ltd., 1927, OCLC 78413388, 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.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.10:
- (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?
- c. 1605, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, First Folio 1623, I.3:
- 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 5:1
- Ye shall remain there [in Babylon] many years, and for a long season, namely, seven generations - Baruch 6:3
- All 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.
- 2008, Edgar Thorpe, Objective English:
- 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.
- 2009, Paul Deital, Harvey Deital and Abbey Deital, iPhone for Programmers:
- (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
- 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.
Hyponyms
Hyponyms of generation (noun)
Related terms
Translations
origination by some process; formation
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act of generating or begetting; procreation
that which is generated or brought forth
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period of around thirty years
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single step in the succession of natural descent
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race, kind, family
geometry
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Further reading
- generation in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- generation in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- "generation" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 140.
Middle French
Noun
generation f (plural generations)
- generation (procreation; begetting)
- generation (rank or degree in genealogy)
Swedish
Declension
Declension of generation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | generation | generationen | generationer | generationerna |
Genitive | generations | generationens | generationers | generationernas |
Related terms
- generera
- generationsväxling
- ungdomsgeneration
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