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generation

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Generation and génération

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

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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

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    Noun

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    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.]
      • (Can we date this quote by Bible and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
        This is the book of the generations of Adam - Genesis 5:1
      • (Can we date this quote by Bible and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
        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. (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

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    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    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

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    Anagrams

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    Danish

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    Etymology

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    From Latin generatio.

    Noun

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    generation c (singular definite generationen, plural indefinite generationer)

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

    Declension

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

    Further reading

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    Middle French

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from Latin generatio.

    Noun

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    generation f (plural generations)

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

    Swedish

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    Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
    Wikipedia sv

    Etymology

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    (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

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    generation c

    1. a generation
      den yngre generationen
      the younger generation

    Declension

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

    Derived terms

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    See also

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    References

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