generation

[jen-uh-rey-shuh n]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR generation ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the entire body of individuals born and living at about the same time: the postwar generation.

the term of years, roughly 30 among human beings, accepted as the average period between the birth of parents and the birth of their offspring.

a group of individuals, most of whom are the same approximate age, having similar ideas, problems, attitudes, etc.Compare Beat Generation, Lost Generation.

a group of individuals belonging to a specific category at the same time: Chaplin belonged to the generation of silent-screen stars.

a single step in natural descent, as of human beings, animals, or plants.

a form, type, class, etc., of objects existing at the same time and having many similarities or developed from a common model or ancestor (often used in combination): a new generation of anticancer drugs; a third-generation phone.

the offspring of a certain parent or couple, considered as a step in natural descent.

the act or process of generating; procreation.

the state of being generated.

production by natural or artificial processes; evolution, as of heat or sound.

Biology.

one complete life cycle.
one of the alternate phases that complete a life cycle having more than one phase: the gametophyte generation.

Mathematics. the production of a geometrical figure by the motion of another figure.

Physics. one of the successive sets of nuclei produced in a chain reaction.

(in duplicating processes, as photocopying, film, etc.) the distance in duplicating steps that a copy is from the original work.

Origin of generation

1250–1300; Middle English generacioun < Middle French < Latin generātiōn- (stem of generātiō). See generate, -ion

Related formsgen·er·a·tion·al, adjectivegen·er·a·tion·al·ly, adverbin·ter·gen·er·a·tion, nounpre·gen·er·a·tion, nounsub·gen·er·a·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for generation

breed, crop, time, bearing, origination, propagation, formation, procreation, reproduction, breeding, genesis, span, eon, rank, step, period, epoch, day, peers, aeon

Examples from the Web for generation

Contemporary Examples of generation

I watched SNL—the Eddie Murphy generation—and also SCTV with Rick Moranis.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness
Marlow Stern
January 7, 2015
A place that has multiplied success for generation after generation of its children.
Mario Cuomo, Always Moving Us Toward the Light
Mike Barnicle
January 4, 2015
This was a guy from the hip-hop generation and with a perspective that was inextricably linked to that generation.
Remembering ESPN’s Sly, Cocky, and Cool Anchor Stuart Scott
Stereo Williams
January 4, 2015
Changing public opinion, of course, will be the work of a generation or maybe two, but kudos to Stewart for getting it started.
The Democrats’ Black Hole—and What They Can Do About It
Michael Tomasky
December 31, 2014
Parker left the place that he knew for the possibilities that he would not have had in the Texas of a generation ago.
Will Texas Stay Texan?
David Fontana
December 29, 2014

Historical Examples of generation

And the generation born after the Second World War has come of age.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
For not only leadership is passed from generation to generation, but so is stewardship.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
It was a gospel that had to be preached with tears and beseechings from one generation to another.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King
For Gerald Raymount, it made a man of him—which he is not who is of no service to his generation.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
In the course of a generation he had become an established institution.
Handel
Edward J. Dent

British Dictionary definitions for generation

generation

noun

the act or process of bringing into being; production or reproduction, esp of offspring

a successive stage in natural descent of organisms: the time between when an organism comes into being and when it reproduces
the individuals produced at each stage

the normal or average time between two such generations of a species: about 35 years for humans

a phase or form in the life cycle of a plant or animal characterized by a particular type of reproductionthe gametophyte generation

all the people of approximately the same age, esp when considered as sharing certain attitudes, etc

production of electricity, heat, etc

physics a set of nuclei formed directly from a preceding set in a chain reaction

(modifier, in combination)

belonging to a generation specified as having been born in or as having parents, grandparents, etc, born in a given countrya third-generation American
belonging to a specified stage of development in manufacture, usually implying improvementa second-generation computer

Derived Formsgenerational, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for generation

early 14c., "body of individuals born about the same period" (usually 30 years), from Old French generacion (12c.) and directly from Latin generationem (nominative generatio) "generating, generation," noun of action from past participle stem of generare "bring forth" (see genus). Meanings "act or process of procreation," "process of being formed," "offspring of the same parent" are late 14c.

Generation gap first recorded 1967; generation x is 1991, from Douglas Coupland book of that name; generation y attested by 1994. Related: Generational. Adjectival phrase first-generation, second-generation, etc. with reference to U.S. immigrants is from 1896.

generation in Medicine

generation

[jĕn′ə-rā′shən]

n.

A form or stage in the life cycle of an organism.

All of the offspring that are at the same stage of descent from a common ancestor.

The average interval of time between the birth of parents and the birth of their offspring.

A group of individuals born and living about the same time.

A group of generally contemporaneous individuals regarded as having common cultural or social characteristics and attitudes.

The act or process of generating; origination, production, or procreation.

generation in Science

generation

[jĕn′ə-rā′shən]

All of the offspring that are at the same stage of descent from a common ancestor.
The average interval of time between the birth of parents and the birth of their offspring.

A form or stage in the life cycle of an organism. See more at alternation of generations.

The formation of a line or geometric figure by the movement of a point or line.