generate
Americanverb (used with object)
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generates,
present (3rd person singular)
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generated,
past participle, past
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generating
present participle
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to bring into existence; cause to be; produce.
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to create by a vital or natural process.
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to create and distribute vitally and profusely.
He generates ideas that we all should consider.
A good diplomat generates good will.
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to reproduce; procreate.
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to produce by a chemical process.
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Mathematics.
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to trace (a figure) by the motion of a point, straight line, or curve.
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to act as base for all the elements of a given set.
The number 2 generates the set 2, 4, 8, 16.
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Linguistics. to produce or specify (a grammatical sentence or other construction or set of constructions) by the application of a rule or set of rules in a generative grammar.
verb (used without object)
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generates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
generated,
past participle, past
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generating
present participle
verb
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to produce or bring into being; create
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(also intr) to produce (electricity), esp in a power station
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to produce (a substance) by a chemical process
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maths linguistics to provide a precise criterion or specification for membership in (a set)
these rules will generate all the noun phrases in English
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geometry to trace or form by moving a point, line, or plane in a specific way
circular motion of a line generates a cylinder
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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pregenerateverb (used with object)
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intergeneratingadjective
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nongeneratingadjective
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ungeneratedadjective
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ungeneratingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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generatesimple
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generatessimple
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have generatedperfect
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has generatedperfect
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am generatingprogressive
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are generatingprogressive
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is generatingprogressive
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have been generatingperfect progressive
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has been generatingperfect progressive
Past
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generatedsimple
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had generatedperfect
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was generatingprogressive
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were generatingprogressive
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had been generatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of generate
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin generātus “begotten, produced,” past participle of generāre “to beget”; see genus
Explanation
Generate means produce or create. A good stock pick might generate cash, and a good idea might generate the basis for an Oscar-winning film. Generate and the closely related word generation both come from the Latin word genus, which means "stock or race." Its root, in turn, is the Proto-Indo-European gen-, "to produce, give birth, or beget." Let's say you have two siblings. In that case, your parents' marriage has generated three children. In a hydroelectric power plant, water generates power. And you can get a paper route or babysit if you're looking to generate a little income.
Vocabulary lists containing generate
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Memory is a lever for better AI performance. AI models generate better results with more memory, run faster with more memory,” he wrote.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Under normal circumstances, the launch of a car like this might generate few headlines.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
We’ve also noticed several ads in which AI was used to generate crowds or constituents.
From Salon ● Oct. 6, 2026
“Facilities with substantial unused capacity continue to generate operating and maintenance costs,” the report states.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
They generate tens of millions of dollars for the Osage, helping to fund their government, educational programs, and health-care benefits.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Still socially awkward, the rendition of Zuckerberg is now one of a powerful, globally known figure, whose platform generates billions of dollars and is used by millions of people.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
The most famous are "lying flat", when people opt out of the rat race entirely, and "involution", a rather clunky term now commonly used to describe intense competition which generates little meaningful reward.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Cowal, which generates roughly 40% of the company’s free cash flow today, continues to offer the most compelling growth options in Evolution’s portfolio, says the bank.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Amazon is an e-commerce platform, but it also generates about 10% of its revenue from advertising.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
You cannot “see” this cube nor feel its edges—but it shares the one property that all physical objects must possess: it generates shadows.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Sea levels are already significantly above the official tide forecasts, which are generated years in advance and don’t account for an El Niño.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
NSW coal generated Aus$23.4 billion in exports last year, with most shipped for electricity generation to South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Season 35 of “DWTS” has already generated $5.7 million in trading volume as of Monday, Kalshi told me.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
Aviation and the tourism it facilitates generated economic activity equivalent to 27% of the emirate’s gross domestic product in 2023, according to a study by Oxford Economics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
Nothing about what I’d seen was computer generated, and if I hadn’t already thrown up everything I’d ever eaten, I’d have done it again now.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
"What was especially remarkable was that the cells we're generating in vivo actually look better than what we make in the lab," Eyquem said.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
But studies show AI text detectors are often unreliable, generating false positives that can erode trust between instructors and students and forcing teachers to devise innovative methods to detect cheating and evaluate assignments.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
The only thing I can think of that’s worse than getting stuck on Greatest Hits or Top 40 is pushing a button and generating “infinite personalized music” with no human influence.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
Muse is designed to protect users by generating a one-time card number for each transaction and asking for a user’s permission before buying anything, said a Meta spokesman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Second, when gases from Earth were introduced into the Martian soil sample, the gases became chemically combined with the soil—almost as if there were photosynthesizing microbes, generating organic matter from atmospheric gases.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
