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)

The process of accumulating change.

A progression of change, often branching and diversifying in the process.

(general) Gradual directional change especially one leading to a more advanced or complex form; growth; development.

* {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)

, chapter=4 citation , passage=By some paradoxical evolution rancour and intolerance have been established in the vanguard of primitive Christianity. Mrs. Spoker, in common with many of the stricter disciples of righteousness, was as inclement in demeanour as she was cadaverous in aspect.}}

* 1976 , (Richard Dawkins), (The Selfish Gene) :

There are some examples of cultural evolution' in birds and monkeys, but it is our own species that really shows what cultural ' evolution can do.

* 2005 , (Eckhart Tolle), (A New Earth) :

Suffering has a noble purpose: the evolution of consciousness and the burning up of the ego.

(biology) The change in the genetic composition of a population over successive generations.

* 1976 , (Richard Dawkins), (The Selfish Gene) :

[Some books have] made the erroneous assumption that the important thing in evolution is the good of the species (or the group) rather than the good of the individual (or the gene).

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katrina G. Claw

, title= Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction.}}

(chemistry) The act or an instance of giving off gas; emission.

(mathematics) The extraction of a root from a quantity.

(military) One of a series of ordered movements.

(dance, sports) A turning movement of the body.

* 1869 , Anon., Miss Langley's Will :

It was a critical instant: the pirouette -- it would fail, she feared. … the rapid whirl achieved in exact time, the whole evolution executed to perfection.

* 1825 , Theodore Edward Hook, Sayings and Doings: Passion and principle :

… as he beheld the tenfold pirouette of a lovely girl, which presented to the public eye the whole of her form and figure; … to praise the dexterity and ease with which the unfortunate and degraded creature had performed the ungraceful evolution , the only merit of which, is the gross exposition of person, at which modesty shudders […]

* 1863 , Knightley Willia Horlock, The master of the hounds :

"Look now, that pirouette -- my stars! how Beauchamp would stare to see his darling perform such an evolution !"

* 1869 , William Clarke, The boy's own book :

By this operation each foot will describe an arc or segment of a circle. … This evolution is performed sometimes on one foot, sometimes on the other …