Generation

Generation
Generation Gen`er*a"tion, n. [OE. generacioun, F. g['e]n['e]ration, fr.L. generatio.] 1. The act of generating or begetting; procreation, as of animals. [1913 Webster]

2. Origination by some process, mathematical, chemical, or vital; production; formation; as, the generation of sounds, of gases, of curves, etc. [1913 Webster]

3. That which is generated or brought forth; progeny; offspiring. [1913 Webster]

4. A single step or stage in the succession of natural descent; a rank or remove in genealogy. Hence: The body of those who are of the same genealogical rank or remove from an ancestor; the mass of beings living at one period; also, the average lifetime of man, or the ordinary period of time at which one rank follows another, or father is succeeded by child, usually assumed to be one third of a century; an age. [1913 Webster]

This is the book of the generations of Adam. --Gen. v. 1. [1913 Webster]

Ye shall remain there [in Babylon] many years, and for a long season, namely, seven generations. --Baruch vi. 3. [1913 Webster]

All generations and ages of the Christian church. --Hooker. [1913 Webster]

5. Race; kind; family; breed; stock. [1913 Webster]

Thy mother's of my generation; what's she, if I be a dog? --Shak. [1913 Webster]

6. (Geom.) 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. [1913 Webster]

7. (Biol.) The aggregate of the functions and phenomene which attend reproduction. [1913 Webster]

Note: There are four modes of generation in the animal kingdom: scissiparity or by fissiparous generation, gemmiparity or by budding, germiparity or by germs, and oviparity or by ova. [1913 Webster]

{Alternate generation} (Biol.), alternation of sexual with asexual generation, in which the products of one process differ from those of the other, -- a form of reproduction common both to animal and vegetable organisms. In the simplest form, the organism arising from sexual generation produces offspiring unlike itself, agamogenetically. These, however, in time acquire reproductive organs, and from their impregnated germs the original parent form is reproduced. In more complicated cases, the first series of organisms produced agamogenetically may give rise to others by a like process, and these in turn to still other generations. Ultimately, however, a generation is formed which develops sexual organs, and the original form is reproduced.

{Spontaneous generation} (Biol.), the fancied production of living organisms without previously existing parents from inorganic matter, or from decomposing organic matter, a notion which at one time had many supporters; abiogenesis. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Generation — Generation …   Deutsch Wörterbuch

  • Generation —  Generation …   Hochdeutsch - Plautdietsch Wörterbuch

  • génération — [ ʒenerasjɔ̃ ] n. f. • XIIIe; generatiun v. 1120; lat. generatio ♦ Action d engendrer. 1 ♦ Production d un nouvel individu; fonction par laquelle les êtres se reproduisent. ⇒ reproduction. Génération asexuée. ⇒ multiplication; scissiparité,… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

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  • Generation Y — Génération Y Le terme « génération Y » désigne les personnes nées entre la fin des années 1970 et le milieu des années 1990. Il tire son nom de la génération précédente, nommée génération X. D autres termes équivalents existent :… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Generation X — is a term used to describe generations in the United States and other countries born between the approximate years of 1965 to 1981, [http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1731528,00.html Gen X: The Ignored Generation? TIME ] ] the late… …   Wikipedia

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  • generation — gen‧e‧ra‧tion [ˌdʒenəˈreɪʆn] noun 1. [uncountable] MANUFACTURING the process of producing energy or power: • the generation of electricity 2. [uncountable] COMMERCE the process of producing or increasing income, profits, sa …   Financial and business terms

  • generation — Generation. s. f. Action d engendrer. Propre à la generation. inhabile à la generation incapable de generation. On dit en Theologie en parlant des Personnes divines, que Le Fils vient du Pere par voye de generation, & le saint Esprit du Pere & du …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Generation — • Definitions include: a definite period of time, with a special reference to the average length of man s life; an indefinite period of time, of time past; the men who lived in the same period of time who were contemporaries; a race or class of… …   Catholic encyclopedia

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