different between beginning vs generation

English

Alternative forms

• begynnynge (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• enPR: b?g?'n?ng, IPA^(key): /b????.n??/

Etymology 1

From Middle English biginning, beginninge, beginnunge, equivalent to begin +? -ing.

Noun

beginning (countable and uncountable, plural beginnings)

1. (uncountable) The act of doing that which begins anything; commencement of an action, state, or space of time; entrance into being or upon a course; the first act, effort, or state of a succession of acts or states.
2. That which is begun; a rudiment or element.
3. That which begins or originates something; the source or first cause.

   What was the beginning of the dispute?

4. The initial portion of some extended thing.

   The author describes the main character's youth at the beginning of the story.

   That house is at the beginning of the street.

   • 1975, Frances Keinzley, The Cottage at Chapelyard, page 179,

     "Is anything the matter?" Lady Lindstrom asked anxiously.

     "No," Megan told her. "I'm merely trying to decide where the beginning is."

     "Perhaps at the beginning," the Chief Constable prompted, rather stupidly, Megan thought.

     "Which beginning?" she asked.

Usage notes

"In the beginning" is an idiomatic expression that means "at first, initially"; it does not mean the same as "at the beginning".

The meaning of "at the beginning" is clear from its parts. This expression is used to refer to the time when or place where something starts; it is used to refer to points in time and space and also to fairly long periods of time and fairly large extents of space. ("At the beginning of the story" can be used to refer to both the first few sentences and to the first chapter or chapters. "At the beginning of the trail" can be used to refer to both the first few meters and the first part of a trail, which can be quite substantial, even a fifth or fourth or more.)

The originally rare and traditionally deprecated usage of "in the beginning of" (instead of "at the beginning of") has become more common but is still ignored by most dictionaries and other authorities or labeled as unidiomatic or incorrect. Interestingly, there is only rarely confusion between the parallel expressions "in the end" and "at the end (of)".

Synonyms

• (act of doing that which begins anything): commencing, start, starting
• (that which is begun; rudiment or element): element, embryo, rudiment
• (that which begins or originates something): origin, source, start, commencement
• (initial portion of some extended thing): head, start

Antonyms

• (act of doing that which begins anything): conclusion, end

Derived terms

• a good beginning makes a good ending
• beginning of day
• in the beginning

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English begynnyng, bygynnynge, From Old English *beginnende (attested only as Old English onginnende), from Proto-Germanic *biginnandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *biginnan? (“to begin”), equivalent to begin +? -ing.

Verb

beginning

1. present participle of begin

Adjective

beginning (not comparable)

1. (informal) Of or relating to the first portion of some extended thing.

   in the beginning paragraph of the chapter

   in the beginning section of the course

Translations

Synonyms

• first
• initial

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman generacioun, Middle French generacion, and their source, Latin gener?ti?, from gener?re, present active infinitive of gener? (“to beget, generate”). Compare generate.

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?d???n???e???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n
• Hyphenation: gen?er?a?tion

Noun

generation (countable and uncountable, plural generations)

1. The act of creating something or bringing something into being; production, creation. [from 14th c.]
   • 1832, Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology, II:

     The generation of peat, when not completely under water, is confined to moist situations.

2. The act of creating a living creature or organism; procreation. [from 14th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.10:

     So all things else, that nourish vitall blood, / Soone as with fury thou doest them inspire, / In generation seek to quench their inward fire.

   • 1626, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum:

     Generation by Copulation (certainly) extendeth not to Plants.
3. (now US, dialectal) Race, family; breed. [from 14th c.]
   • c. 1605, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, First Folio 1623, I.3:

     Thy Mothers of my generation: what's she, if I be a Dogge?

4. 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. [from 14th c.]

   This is the book of the generations of Adam - Genesis 5:1

   Ye shall remain there [in Babylon] many years, and for a long season, namely, seven generations - Baruch 6:3

   All generations and ages of the Christian church - Richard Hooker

5. (obsolete) Descendants, progeny; offspring. [15th-19th c.]
6. 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. [from 17th c.]
7. A set stage in the development of computing or of a specific technology. [from 20th c.]
   • 2009, Paul Deital, Harvey Deital and Abbey Deital, iPhone for Programmers:

     The first-generation iPhone was released in June 2007 and was an instant blockbuster success.

8. (geometry) 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.

   the generation of a line or curve

9. A group of people born in a specific range of years and whose members can relate culturally to one another.

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

10. 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.

11. (television) A copy of a recording made from an earlier copy and thus further degraded in quality.
    • 2014, K. G. Jackson, G. B. Townsend, TV & Video Engineer's Reference Book

      With one-inch C format or half-inch Betacam used in the component mode, quality loss through additional generations is not such a problem. In this situation, it would be usual to make the necessary alterations while re-recording onto a third generation master […]

    • 2002, Keith Jack, Vladimir Tsatsoulin, Dictionary of Video and Television Technology (page 131)

      Each generation away from the original or master produces increased degradation in the image quality.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

• first-generation
• generationer
• second-generation
• generation gap
• generation loss

Related terms

• generate

Translations

Further reading

• generation in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• generation in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• "generation" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 140.

Anagrams

• renegation

Danish

Noun

generation c (singular definite generationen, plural indefinite generationer)

1. generation (organisms or devices born or designed at the same time)

Declension

Further reading

• “generation” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “generation” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Middle French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin generatio.

Noun

generation f (plural generations)

1. generation (procreation; begetting)
2. generation (rank or degree in genealogy)

Swedish

Noun

generation c

1. a generation

Declension

Related terms

• generera
• generationsväxling
• ungdomsgeneration

References

• generation in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• generation in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)