Wiktionary

generation

See also: Generation and génération

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology

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Inherited 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.

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.]
    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.
    • 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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(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 (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:
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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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