generation

noun12

1. •
   a whole set of people born within a few years of each other, who share a similar way of life

   • Generation X grew up in the eighties, whereas the generation known as the millennials grew up in the nineties.
2. •
   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.

   • All generations and ages of the Christian church — 1594
3. •
   The act of creating something or bringing something into being; production, creation.

   • The generation of peat, when not completely under water, is confined to moist situations […] — 1832
4. •
   The act of creating a living creature or organism; procreation.

   • So all things else, that nourish vitall blood, / Soone as with fury thou doest them inspire, / In generation seek to quench their inward fire. — 1596
5. •
   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, by the motion of a point, of a surface by a line, a sphere by a semicircle, etc.
6. •
   A set stage in the development of computing or of a specific technology.

   • The first-generation iPhone was released in June 2007 and was an instant blockbuster success. — 2009
7. •
   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.
8. •
   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.
9. •
   (dialect, US) Race, family; breed.

   • Thy Mothers of my generation: what's she, if I be a Dogge? — 1605
10. •
    A copy of a recording made from an earlier copy.
11. •
    A single iteration of a cellular automaton rule on a pattern.

    • It runs for 17331 generations before stabilizing as 136 blinkers, 109 blocks, 65 beehives, 18 loaves, 18 boats, 7 ships, 4 tubs, 3 ponds, 2 toads, and 40 gliders. — 1989
12. •
    (Nigeria, no longer used) Descendants, progeny; offspring.