generation
- 01 B1 Intermediate
all the people born and living at about the same time.
a cohort of individuals born and living within the same historical period, typically spanning about thirty years.
Simple“My grandfather's generation lived through very difficult times during the war.”
In context“Sociologists often study how each generation develops its own unique cultural identity in response to the political climate of its youth.”
Synonymsage groupcohort - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
the act of making or producing something, especially energy or heat.
the process of producing or creating something, particularly in a technical or industrial context.
Simple“The wind farm is used for the generation of clean electricity.”
In context“The rapid generation of heat during the chemical reaction required the engineers to install an advanced cooling system.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 03 B1 Intermediate
one step in the history of a family, such as from parent to child.
a single stage in the succession of natural descent; a rank or degree in a genealogy.
Simple“The farm has been owned by the same family for four generations.”
In context“The family tree reveals that the artistic talent has skipped a generation, reappearing in the great-grandchildren.”
- 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
a stage in the development of a product or technology.
a distinct stage in the development of technology or a specific product line.
Simple“The latest generation of smartphones has much better cameras than the old ones.”
In context“The transition to the next generation of wireless networks promised significantly lower latency for industrial applications.”
- 05 C1 Advanced
a copy of a video or sound recording made from an earlier one.
a single stage in the duplication process of a recording, where each subsequent copy is a new generation.
Simple“The video quality is poor because this is a third-generation copy of the tape.”
In context“In the era of analogue tape, engineers had to be careful about generation loss during the editing and mastering process.”
UsageOften used in the phrase 'generation loss' to describe quality reduction.
Usage generations to come · generation to the next · future generation
Inherited from Middle English generacioun, from Anglo-Norman generacioun, Middle French generacion, and their source, Latin generātiō, from generāre (“to beget, generate”). By surface analysis, generate + -ion.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.