generation-n; 4 Senses

Sense Number 1: production

Commentary: GENERATION[+event][+activity][+production] the act of producing something, e.g, heat, electricity, offspring, money The inception or beginning of something

Examples:
Dams are built for the generation of electricity.
We could just see the generation of tiny buds on the trees.
Speculation in the dot com boom led to the generation of wealth, some of it temporary.
Perpetual dampness is contributing to the generation of mold on these walls.
The spoiled behavior of my pet is of my own generation. (I caused the behavior)

Mappings:
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 1

Sense Number 2: a phase, style or type of technology or manufactured good

Commentary: GENERATION[+entity][+group][+contemporaneous][+technology] a stage or phase of technological development

Examples:
The third generation of computers excited the public.
The Navy likes its next generation of fixed wing fighter.
Many generations of automobile lie between the Model T and today's luxury sedans.

Mappings:
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 4

Sense Number 3: time period, usually measured as an average life span

Commentary: GENERATION[+event][+quantity][+measure][+time] a measure of time, how long something takes or persists

Examples:
It will take generations to restore this old growth forest.
After a generation, the destruction from the war was still evident.
It took three generations to perfect our family's secret recipe for mint juleps.

Mappings:
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 3

Sense Number 4: contemporaneous group of biological beings, e.g., people

Commentary: GENERATION[+group][+contemporaneous][+biological] contemporaries, group of individuals of the same age group

Examples:
My father's generation fought in World War II.
Earlier generations of Tahitians did not speak French.
The novel follows three generations of women in the small town.
He performed his experiments on six successive generations of fruit flies.

Mappings:
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 1