- generation
- c.1300, "offspring of the same parent," also "body of individuals born about the same period" (usually 30 years), from L. generationem (nom. generatio), from generare "bring forth" (see genus). Generator in the sense "machine that generates power" first recorded 1794; in sense of "machine that generates electric energy," 1879. Generation gap first recorded 1967; generation x is 1991, from Douglas Coupland book of that name. The verb generate is attested from 1509; originally "to beget;" in ref. to natural forces, conditions, substances. etc., attested from 1563.