Word: generation Part of Speech: noun 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 *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin generātiōbor. 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: /ˌd͡ʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən/ 1. The act of creating something or bringing something into being; production, creation. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The generation of peat, when not completely under water, is confined to moist situations […] 2. The act of creating a living creature or organism; procreation. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: So all things else, that nourish vitall blood, / Soone as with fury thou doest them inspire, / In generation seek to quench their inward fire. Example: Generation by Copulation (certainly) extendeth not to Plants. 3. Race, family; breed. Labels: US, countable, dialectal, uncountable Example: Thy Mothers of my generation: what's she, if I be a Dogge? 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. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: This is the book of the generations of Adam - Genesis 5:1 Example: Ye shall remain there [in Babylon] many years, and for a long season, namely, seven generations - Baruch 6:3 5. Descendants, progeny; offspring. Labels: Nigeria, countable, obsolete, uncountable 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. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The first-generation iPhone was released in June 2007 and was an instant blockbuster success. 8. 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. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: People sometimes dispute which generation of Star Trek is best, including the original and The Next Generation. 11. A copy of a recording made from an earlier copy. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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 […] Example: Each generation away from the original or master produces increased degradation in the image quality. 12. A single iteration of a cellular automaton rule on a pattern. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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. Example: The glider is fast--it moves 2 cells every 3 generations. There is also a spinning thing (sixty degrees every 21 generations)