| generation | 1. The act of generating or begetting; procreation, as of animals. 2. Origination by some process, mathematical, chemical, or vital; production; formation; as, the generation of sounds, of gases, of curves, etc. 3. That which is generated or brought forth; progeny; offspiring. 4. A single step or stage in the succession of natural descent; a rank or remove in genealogy. Hence: The body of those who are of the same genealogical rank or remove from an ancestor; the mass of beings living at one period; also, the average lifetime of man, or the ordinary period of time at which one rank follows another, or father is succeeded by child, usually assumed to be one third of a century; an age. "This is the book of the generations of Adam." (Gen. V. 1) "Ye shall remain there [in Babylon] many years, and for a long season, namely, seven generations." (Baruch vi. 3) "All generations and ages of the Christian church." (Hooker) 5. Race; kind; family; breed; stock. "Thy mother's of my generation; what's she, if I be a dog?" (Shak) 6. <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; as, the generation of a line or curve by the motion of a point, of a surface by a line, a sphere by a semicircle, etc. 7. <biology> The aggregate of the functions and phenomene which attend reproduction. There are four modes of generation in the animal kingdom: scissiparity or by fissiparous generation, gemmiparity or by budding, germiparity or by germs, and oviparity or by ova. <biology> Alternate generation, the fancied production of living organisms without previously existing parents from inorganic matter, or from decomposing organic matter, a notion which at one time had many supporters; abiogenesis. Origin: OE. Generacioun, F. Generation, fr.L. Generatio. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| generation effect | Variation in health status arising from the different causal factors of disease to which each successive generation born is exposed as it passes through life. (05 Mar 2000) |
| generation time | <cell biology> Time taken for a cell population to double in numbers and thus equivalent to the average length of the cell cycle. (18 Nov 1997) |
| generational | Pertaining to generations, i.e., the discrete staging in genealogical descent. (05 Mar 2000) |
| generative | Pertaining to the process of generating. (05 Mar 2000) |
| generative empathy | The inner experience of sharing in and comprehending the momentary psychologic state of another person. (05 Mar 2000) |
| generator | 1. One who, or that which, generates, begets, causes, or produces. 2. An apparatus in which vapor or gas is formed from a liquid or solid by means of heat or chemical process, as a steam boiler, gas retort, or vessel for generating carbonic acid gas, etc. 3. The principal sound or sounds by which others are produced; the fundamental note or root of the common chord. Synonym: generating tone. Origin: L. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| generator potential | Local depolarisation of the membrane potential at the end of a sensory neurone in graded response to the strength of a stimulus applied to the associated receptor organ, e.g., a pacinian corpuscle; if the generator potential becomes large enough (because the stimulus is at least of threshold strength), it causes excitation at the nearest node of Ranvier and a propagated action potential. (05 Mar 2000) |
| generatrix | Origin: L. <geometry> That which generates; the point, or the mathematical magnitude, which, by its motion, generates another magnitude, as a line, surface, or solid. Synonym: describent. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| generic | A drug not protected by a trademark. Also, the scientific name as opposed to the proprietary, brand name. (16 Dec 1997) |
| generic name | 1. In chemistry, a noun that indicates the class or type of a single compound; e.g., salt, saccharide (sugar), hexose, alcohol, aldehyde, lactone, acid, amine, alkane, steroid, vitamin. "Class" is more appropriate and more often used than is "generic." 2. In the pharmaceutical and commercial fields, a misnomer for nonproprietary name. 3. In the biologic sciences, the first part of the scientific name (Latin binary combination or binomial) of an organism; written with an initial capital letter and in italics. In bacteriology, the species name consists of two parts (comprising one name): the generic name and the specific epithet; in other biologic disciplines, the species name is regarded as being composed of two names: the generic name and the specific name. (05 Mar 2000) |
| generical | 1. <biology> Pertaining to a genus or kind; relating to a genus, as distinct from a species, or from another genus; as, a generic description; a generic difference; a generic name. 2. Very comprehensive; pertaining or appropriate to large classes or their characteristics; opposed to specific. Origin: L. Genus, generis, race, kind: cf. F. Generique. See Gender. (01 Mar 1998) |
| generically | With regard to a genus, or an extensive class; as, an animal generically distinct from another, or two animals or plants generically allied. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| genes | Located in the nucleus of the cell, genes contain hereditary information that is transferred from cell to cell. (09 Oct 1997) |
| genes, abl | Retrovirus-associated DNA sequences (abl) originally isolated from the abelson murine leukaemia virus (ab-mulv). The proto-oncogene abl (c-abl) codes for a protein that is a member of the tyrosine kinase family. The human c-abl gene is located at 9q34.1 on the long arm of chromosome 9. It is activated by translocation to bcr on chromosome 22 in chronic myelogenous leukaemia. (12 Dec 1998) |