Noun

(en noun)

The fact of creating something, or bringing something into being; production, creation.

* 1832 , (Charles Lyell), Principles of Geology , II:

The generation of peat, when not completely under water, is confined to moist situations.

The act of creating a living creature or organism; procreation.

* 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , IV.10:

So all things else, that nourish vitall blood, / Soone as with fury thou doest them inspire, / In generation seek to quench their inward fire.

* 1626 , (Francis Bacon), Sylva Sylvarum :

Generation by Copulation (certainly) extendeth not to Plants.

* c. 1605 , (William Shakespeare), Timon of Athens , First Folio 1623, I.3:

Thy Mothers of my generation : what's she, if I be a Dogge?

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.

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 -

(obsolete) Descendants, progeny; offspring.

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.

* 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.

A set stage in the development of computing or of a specific technology.

* 2009 , Paul Deital, Harvey Deital and Abbey Deital, iPhone for Programmers :

The first-generation iPhone was released in June 2007 and was an instant blockbuster success.

(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; as, the generation of a line or curve by the motion of a point, of a surface by a line, a sphere by a semicircle, etc.

A specific age range in which each person in that range 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.

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.

Noun

(en noun)

A particular period of history, especially one considered remarkable or noteworthy.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2012-01

, author=Donald Worster , title=A Drier and Hotter Future , volume=100, issue=1, page=70 , magazine= citation , passage=Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught in severe drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force.}}

A notable event which marks the beginning of such a period.

(astronomy) A precise instant of time that is used as a reference point.

(computing, uncountable) A precise instant of time that is used as a reference point (e.g. January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC).