generation
Pluralgenerations
- 1All the people born around the same time, who often share ideas, music, and ways of life.
Like kids in the same grade at school: they grow up together and remember the same things.
My grandmother's generation grew up without the internet.
Each generation has its own favorite music and slang.
UsageOften people of my generation, the younger generation, the older generation.
Similarcohort, peers, contemporaries
- 2The act of making something or causing something to start to exist.
Solar panels allow the generation of electricity from sunlight.
Wind farms are used for the generation of electricity.
UsageOften the generation of something, or power generation.
Similarproduction, creation, formation
Oppositeconsumption, destruction
- 3One step in a family line, like parents, then their children, then the grandchildren.
Like steps on a ladder, where each step is one level of the family.
Three generations live in that house: grandparents, parents, and kids.
She is the first generation in her family to go to college.
UsageOften from one generation to the next, or the first generation to do something.
Note
- 4One stage or version of a machine, product, or game or film series, different from earlier and later ones.
The fifth generation of the phone has a much better camera.
Engineers are already testing the next generation of electric car batteries.
UsageOften the next generation of a product. Before a noun, use a hyphen: a second-generation phone.
Note
- 5A length of time, about 25 to 30 years, from when people are born until they have their own children.
The old bridge was built a generation ago.
Nothing in the village had changed for generations.
UsageOften a generation ago or for generations.
- 6The children and later family members who come after a person.
UsageElsewhere, say descendants or children: my generation usually means people of my age.
Note
Less common meanings
- 7The act of producing a baby, animal, or other living thing.
Biology class covered the generation of new plants from seeds.
Long ago, people thought flies could appear from old meat by spontaneous generation.
UsageKnown phrase: spontaneous generation, the old belief that living things can come from dead matter.
Similarprocreation, reproduction, breeding, propagation
Note
- 8A copy of a video or sound recording that was made from another copy, not from the original.
Like a photocopy of a photocopy: each new copy is a little less clear.
Each generation of the tape sounds a little worse than the one before.
Every time you copy a tape, the new generation sounds a little worse.
Note
- 9
- 10The making of a line, surface, or solid shape by moving a point, line, or surface.
- 11One step in a grid game where all the squares change at once by following a rule.
Practice
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Origin
It came through Middle English and Old French from Latin generātiō, from generāre meaning "to beget or produce."
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Generation came through Middle English and Old French from Latin generātiō. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin generātiō derives from generāre. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin generāre means to beget or produce. en.wiktionary.org