generation English · revision 2987

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1325, Cursor Mundi|origins=la generō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌdʒen.əˈreɪ.ʃᵊn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|generacioun]],^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|generacion|t=race, people; offspring; procreation]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and directly from [[la|generātiō|t=a generating, begetting]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|generāre|t=to bring forth, beget, produce]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|genus|t=race, kind]],^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*gene-|t=to give birth, beget]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Offspring, descendants, and a group of descendants of one family or period: before 1325, in ''Cursor Mundi''.^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline dates the sense “people born about the same time” to the early 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The idea was of descendants at the same stage in a line of descent;^(Etymonline) a generation was traditionally reckoned at 30 years, though in other uses as few as 17.^(Etymonline) The act of begetting, procreation, is from about 1374 in the OED^(OED 1989) and the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) Production by natural or artificial processes is from about 1400,^(OED 1989) and the production of electricity from 1886.^(OED 1989) ''First-generation'' and ''second-generation'', of American immigrant families, are from 1856.^(Etymonline) ''Generation gap'' is recorded by 1967,^(Etymonline) and ''Generation X'', for Americans born after the baby boomers, from 1991, in Douglas Coupland's book of that name.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1325 – offspring; a generation.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1374 – procreation.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – production.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1856 – ''second-generation'' immigrants.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1886 – the generation of electricity.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1967 – ''generation gap''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1991 – ''Generation X''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # All the people born and living at about the same time.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A single stage in the descent of a family: ''three generations''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The average time between the birth of parents and of their children, about 30 years.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The act of producing or creating: ''the generation of [[electricity]]''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A stage in the development of a product: ''a new generation of computers''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[generational]]

+ * [[generationally]]

+ * [[cogeneration]]

+ * [[first-generation]]

+ * [[intergeneration]]

+ * [[intergenerational]]

+ * [[pregeneration]]

+ * [[regeneration]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[generate]]

+ * [[genus]]

+ * [[gender]]

+ * [[genre]]

+ * [[general]]

+ * [[genetic]]

+ * [[kin]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}