Wiktionary

generation

See also: Generation and génération

EnglishEdit

 
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EtymologyEdit

From Middle English generacioun, from Anglo-Norman generacioun, Middle French generacion, and their source, Latin generātiō, from generāre, present active infinitive of generō (“to beget, generate”). Compare generate.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

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.
    • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, 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; reprinted as Hydriotaphia (The English Replicas), New York, N.Y.: Payson & Clarke Ltd., 1927, →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.]
    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
  5. (obsolete) 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 and thus further degraded in quality.
    • 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.

HyponymsEdit

Hyponyms of generation (noun)

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

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

Further readingEdit

AnagramsEdit

DanishEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

NounEdit

generation c (singular definite generationen, plural indefinite generationer)

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

DeclensionEdit

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

Further readingEdit

Middle FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Latin generatio.

NounEdit

generation f (plural generations)

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

SwedishEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

NounEdit

generation c

  1. a generation

DeclensionEdit

Declension of generation 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative generation generationen generationer generationerna
Genitive generations generationens generationers generationernas

Related termsEdit

ReferencesEdit

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