generation 
< L. generatio(n~), < generare, beget, generate : 
eee generate."] 1. The act, process, or function 
of generating or begetting; procreation; prop- 
agation ; reproduction ; multiplication of kind. 
The modes of generation in the animal kingdom are redu- 
cible to four leading types : (1) fission, (2) sporatiou, (3) 
gemmation, and (4) sexual generation. (See these words, 
and conjugation.') Another division is into sexual or 
gamic generation, which prevails in all the higher animals 
and in most others, and asexual or non-sexual or again iV 
generation. Many variations in the mode of generation, 
chiefly sexual, are expressed by such terms as fissiparous, 
ffemmiparowf, larviparouit, oviparous, ovovieiparous, pu- 
piparous, viviparous. (See these words and the corre- 
sponding abstract nouns.) See genesis, 1. 
The threads sometimes discovered in eels are perhaps 
their young : the generation of eels is very dark and mys- 
terious. White, Nat. Ilist. of Selborne, xl. 
2. In theol., the communication of the Divine 
Essence from God the Father to God the Sou. 
The catholic or orthodox Trinitarian doctrine is that God 
the Son is a distinct person, truly God and of the same 
essence as the Father, and is therefore existent in his own 
personality as the Son from all eternity to all eternity, 
and that the divine act of generation is accordingly itself 
eternal or without beginning and without end : in opposi- 
tion to the Arian teaching, that "there was formerly a 
time when he [Christ] was not, and that before being be- 
gotten he was not." The person or hypostasis of God the 
Son being " the express image [or impress, VO/KUCTIJ/)] of 
his [God the Father's] person (ujroo-rao-ts) " (Heb. i. 3.), 
the communication of essence is that of a father to a son, 
and is accordingly begetting or generation; whereas the 
communication of the Divine Essence to the Holy Spirit 
is simply procession. 
3. A bringing out or forth ; evolution, as from 
a source or cause; production, especially by 
some natural process or causation : as, the gen- 
eration of sounds. 
Generation is a proceeding from the not being of a sub- 
stance to the being of the same, as from an acorne to an 
oke. Elundeville, Arte of Logicke (159), i. 22. 
Birch is used in striking and beating ; which clearly de- 
notes the generation of fire to be from the violent percus- 
sions and collisions of bodies. 
Bacon, Physical Fables, ii., Expl. 
Would you know a catchpoll rightly derived, the cor- 
ruption of a citizen is the generation of a sergeant. 
Middleton and Dekker, Roaring Girl, iii. 1. 
4. In math., the description of a geometrical 
figure by the motion of a point, line, plane, or 
figure, in accordance with a mathematical law. 
Also genesis. 5f. That which is generated; 
progeny; offspring. 
O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee 
from the wrath to comeV Mat. ill. 7. 
Fourteen [years] they shall not see, 
To bring false generations. Shak., W. T., li. 1. 
Be young again, Meleander; live to number 
A happy generation, and die old 
In comforts as in years ! 
Ford, Lover's Melancholy, v. 1. 
8. A single succession of living beings in natu- 
ral descent, as the offspring or descendants in 
the same degree of the same parents. 
In the fourth generation they shall come hither again. 
Gen. xv. 16. 
A link among the days, to knit 
The generations each with each. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, xl. 
By selecting, generation after generation, the sheep 
with the finest and longest wool, a breed of sheep is ulti- 
mately reared with wool almost generically different from 
that of the undomesticated race. 
J. Fiske, Cosmic Philos., II. 9. 
7. The whole body of persons of the same pe- 
riod or living at the same time : as, the rising 
generation. 
O faithless and perverse generation! Luke ix. 41. 
8. Family; race; kind; by extension, any allied 
or associated group of persons ; a class. 
This Machomete regned in Arabye, the Zeer of onre Lord 
Jhesu Crist tUO ; and was of the Generacioun of Ysmael. 
ilandemlle, Travels, p. 140. 
These players are an idle generation, and do much harm 
in a state. B. Jomson, Poetaster, i. 1. 
The southern parts [of Mesopotamia] are inhabited by 
a very bad generation of Arabs. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. i. 163. 
We plant a solid foot into the Time, 
And mould a generation strong to move. 
Tennyson, Princess, v. 
9. The age or period of a generation ; hence, 
the average lifetime of all persons of synchro- 
nous age. The historical average, or that of all who 
pass the stage of infancy, is commonly reckoned at about 
thirty years, while the physiological average, or that of 
all who are born, is only about seventeen years. 
A point concerning property, which ought ... to be 
most speedily decided, frequently exercises the wit of suc- 
cessions of lawyers, for many generations. 
Burke, Viud. of Nat. Society. 
Alternate generation. See alternate, and also parthe- 
nogenesis. Equivocal generation, (a) Generation not 
from a parent of the same species, (b) Same as spont.ane- 
oils generation. Eternal generation. See eternal. 
Flsslparpus generation, in zodl., reproduction by fis- 
sion; flssiparity. Spontaneous generation, the sup- 
2484 
posed generation of living things from non-living matter. 
See abiogenesis. Virgin generation. See parthenogene- 
sis and geneagenesis. 
generationism (jen-e-ra'shon-izm), n. [< gen- 
eration + -ism.] In theol., the theory that the 
soul originates with the body in generation, 
and not by a distinct act of creation : same as 
traducianism. 
generative (jeu'e-ra-tiv), a. [= F. geiterutif = 
Pi. generation = fep. Pg. It. generative; as gener- 
ate + -ire.'] Pertaining to generation or prop- 
agation ; connected with or resulting from the 
process of begetting. 
In grains and kernels the greatest part is the nutri- 
ment of that generative particle. Sir T. Brown*. 
If there hath been such a gradual diminution of the 
generative faculty upon the earth, why was there not the 
like decay in the production of vegetables? Bentley. 
Generative person, in tool. , the portion of a compound 
organism, as a hydroid polyp, which is borne upon a pro- 
liferating part ; a medusoid or medusiform portion of such 
a polyp ; a reproductive zobid. See gonoblastidiuin,gon<t- 
some. Generative reason (Gr. AOY< <nrep|taTi<>s), in 
the Stoic philon., the first being considered creative ; na- 
ture. 
generator (jen'e-ra-tor), . [= F. generatenr 
= Pg. gerador ="lt. generators, < L. generator, < 
generare, generate : see generate.'] One who or 
that which begets, causes, or produces, specifl- 
eally (a) In musical acoustics: (1) A tone which pro- 
duces a series of harmonics. (2) A tone fundamental to a 
triad or other chord; a root, (fc) Any vessel or appara- 
tus for the production of gas or steam, as a steam-boiler, 
(c) In elect., a dynamo-electric machine, (d) In math., a 
generatrix ; a right line lying in a ruled surface, (c) In 
making water-gas, the chamber containing incandescent 
carbon, into which steam is admitted for decomposition 
into gas. (/) In chem., the elements or compounds from 
which a more complex substance is obtained. E. D. Dou- 
ble generator. See double. Generator of a poly- 
hedron, a new edge introduced between two non-oontiffu- 
mis summits of a polyhedron in order to generate another. 
generatrix (jen'e-ra-triks), . [= F. genera- 
trice = It. generatrice, < L. generatrix, fern, of 
generator: see generator.'] 1. In math., that 
which generates ; specifically, the point, line, or 
figure which by its motion is conceived to gen- 
erate a line, surface, or solid. 2. In physics, 11 
dynamo-electric machine employed to generate 
an electric current. Compare reeeptrtx. 
genere (jen'e-re), . [It., kind, sort, < L. geimn 
(gener-), kind: see genus.] In music, scale or 
key. 
generic (je-uer'ik), a. [= F. generique = Sp. 
generico = Pg. It. generico, < L. genus (gener-), a 
race, genus, kind : see genus.] 1 . Pertaining to. 
of the nature of, or forming a mark of a genus, 
or a kind or group of similar things ; compre- 
hending a number of like things, without speci- 
fying them : opposed to specific. See genus. 
For the acquisitive part of wisdom is the generic power 
which includes both the specific powers of intuition anil 
reflection. Theodore Parker, Truth and the Intellect. 
Specifically 2. In sool. and l>ot., having the 
taxonomic rank or classificatory value of a ge- 
nus : as, a generic name or description ; generic 
characters or differences; generic identity. Thus 
Canis, a genus of CanidcK, is the generic name of all spe- 
cies of the dog family which agree in their generic char- 
acters, and present generic differences from all other C- 
nidat. 
3. Relating to gender. See gender. 4. Of a 
general nature ; applicable or referring to any 
unit of the kind or class ; general ; not special. 
The more concrete concepts at generic images are formed 
to a large extent by a passive process of assimilation. 
J. Sully, Outlines of Psychol., p. 841. 
5. Distinctly characteristic ; so marked as to 
constitute or denote a distinct kind. 
These men whom modern writers set down as the 
.Sophists, and denounce as the moral pestilence of their 
age were not distinguished in any marked or generic 
way from their predecessors. Grate, Hist. Greece, ii. 67. 
Generic agreement or Identity, the agreement of ob- 
jects which belong to the same genus. Generic area, 
the distributional or chorological area of a genus of ani- 
mals or plants ; the region to which the members of a 
genus are limited in distribution over the earth's surface. 
The place in a generic area where the genus is most nu- 
merously represented by species or individuals is known 
as its metropolis. Generic description or diagnosis, 
a description or characterization of a genus, as in zoology 
or botany. Generic difference, the disagreement of ob- 
jects which belong to different genera ; a characteristic 
of a being or an object which differentiates it generically 
from another or others. Generic diversity, the disa- 
greement between individuals of different genera. Ge- 
neric name, the denomination which comprehends all the 
species, as of a group of animals, plants, or fossils, which 
have generic characters in common. Thus, Cam's is the 
generic name of certain animals of the dog kind ; Felis, of 
the cat kind ; Cerrns, of the deer kind. See genus (ii). 
generical (je-ner'i-kal), a. [< generic + -al.] 
Same as generic, [Rare.] 
The word consumption being applicable to a proper and 
improper, to a time and bastard, consumption, requires a 
yenerical description quadrate to both. 
Harvey, Of Consumptions. 
generous 
generically (jg-ner'i-kal-i), adv. 1. With re- 
gard to genus or kind ; in a generic way ; to a 
generic extent ; by generic rank or classifica- 
tion : as, to separate two species generically ; 
an animal generically related to another. 
They may be called generically Arabs, who at a very an- 
cient time had spread along the coast from Egypt to Mo- 
rocco. Froude, Cajsar, p. 36. 
The sixth species (L. fascicularis) differs to a slight ex- 
tent in many respects from the other species, and has con- 
siderable claims to be generically separated. 
Darwin, Cirripedia, p. 72. 
2. Distinctly; markedly: as, our aims are ge- 
nericallij different. 
genericalness (je-ner'i-kal-nes), n. The state 
or quality of being generic. 
The question in dispute has no relation to the generf- 
catnessoi the objects on which we think, but to taegetieri- 
.-nlii''** of thinking itself. 
Answer to Clarice's Third Defence. 
generification (je-n.er"i-n-ka'shpn), n. [< L. 
genius (gener-), kind, genus, + -ficare, <.facere, 
make.] Generalization; the process of gener- 
alizing. [Rare.] 
The process of abstraction by which out of a proximate- 
ly lower we evolve a proximately higher concept, is, when 
we speak with logical precision, called the process of ge- 
iterijwation. Sir W. Hamilton, Logic, xi. 
generosity (jen-e-ros'i-ti), n. ; pi. generosities 
(-tiz). [< F. generosite = Sp. generosidad = Pg. 
generosidude = It. generosita, < L. generosita(t-)s, 
nobility, excellence, goodness, < generosus, no- 
ble, etc.: see generous.] If. Nobility; the or- 
der of nobles. 
Jfar. A petition granted them [the Roman populace], 
a strange one. 
To break the heart of generosity, 
And make bold power look pale. Shak., Cor., i. 1. 
2. The quality of being generous ; magnanimi- 
ty; liberality of sentiment and action ; more 
specifically, a disposition to give liberally or 
to bestow favors ; a quality of the heart or mind 
opposed to meanness or parsimony. 
They are of that vain Number who had rather shew their 
false Generosity in giving away profusely to worthless 
Flatterers than in paying just Debts. 
Wt/cherley, Plain Dealer, iv. 1. 
In so far as the sphere of Generosity coincides with that 
of Liberality, the former seems partly to transcend the 
latter, partly to refer more to the internal disposition, 
and to imply a completer triumph of unselfish over selfish 
impulses. a. Sidgwick, Methods of Ethics, p. 302. 
3. Liberality in act ; munificence : as, the ob- 
ject of one's generosity. 4. A generous act. 
He by the touch of men was best inspired, 
And caught his native greatness at rebound 
From generosities itself had fired. 
Lowell, Agassiz, ii. 1. 
Order of Generosity, a Prussian order of distinction 
founded in 1065, but not organized till 1685, and supersed- 
ed in 1740 by the Order for Merit (which see, under merit). 
= Syn. 2 and 3. Bounty, Liberality, etc. See beneficence. 
generous (jen'e-rus), a. [< OF. generotis, gene- 
reus, genereux, F. genereux = Pr. generos = Sp. 
Pg. It. generoso, generous, < L. gcnerosits, of no- 
ble birth, excellent, generous, < genus (gener-), 
race, origin: see genm.] If. Being of noble or 
honorable birth or origin ; well-born. 
Twice have the trumpets sounded ; 
The generous and gravest citizens 
Have hent the gates. Shak., M. for M., Iv. 6. 
2. Possessed of or showing blood or breeding ; 
spirited; courageous; thoroughbred. 
He [the trout] may be justly said, as the old poet said of 
wine, and we English say of venison, to be a generous ftsh. 
1. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 71. 
The neighing of the generous horse was heard, 
For battle by the busy groom prepar'd. 
Dryden, Pal. and Arc., iii. 443. 
3. Noble in character or quality; honorable; 
magnanimous. 
Virtue, even in an Enemy, [is] respected by generous 
Minds. Baker, Chronicles, p. 126. 
I have mistook the man : his resolute spirit 
Proclaims him generous ; he has a noble heart, 
As free to utter good deeds as to act them. 
Beau, and Fl., Honest Han's Fortune, ii. 3. 
I know the Table Round, my friends of old ; 
All brave, and many generous, and some chaste. 
Tennyson, Merlin and Vivien. 
4. Liberal; bountiful; munificent: as, a gen- 
erous giver or gift. 
Noble by heritage, 
Generous, and free. 
Carey, The Contrivances, i. 2. 
5. Strong ; full of spirit : as, generotis wine. 
The most generous Wines of Spain grow in the midland 
Parts of the Continent. Bowell, Letters, ii. 54. 
6. Full ; overflowing ; abundant : as, a generous 
cup ; a generotis table. 
The landscape was everywhere grand and beautiful. 
Open and generous hills on all side*. 
.S. Bowles, in Merriam, II. ,V2. 
