generation

B2 · Upper Intermediate Uncountable noun Science Academic · Technical

n. the act of making or producing something, especially energy or heat.

n. the process of producing or creating something, particularly in a technical or industrial context.

“The wind farm is used for the generation of clean electricity.”

“The rapid generation of heat during the chemical reaction required the engineers to install an advanced cooling system.”

B1 · Intermediate Countable noun

n. one step in the history of a family, such as from parent to child.

n. a single stage in the succession of natural descent; a rank or degree in a genealogy.

“The farm has been owned by the same family for four generations.”

“The family tree reveals that the artistic talent has skipped a generation, reappearing in the great-grandchildren.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun Computing

n. a stage in the development of a product or technology.

n. a distinct stage in the development of technology or a specific product line.

“The latest generation of smartphones has much better cameras than the old ones.”

“The transition to the next generation of wireless networks promised significantly lower latency for industrial applications.”

C1 · Advanced Countable noun Technical

n. a copy of a video or sound recording made from an earlier one.

n. a single stage in the duplication process of a recording, where each subsequent copy is a new generation.

“The video quality is poor because this is a third-generation copy of the tape.”

“In the era of analogue tape, engineers had to be careful about generation loss during the editing and mastering process.”