What is a "GENERATION", according to the Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Greek Lexicons?
TheFreeDictionary.com Definition:
gen·er·a·tion
n.
1. All of the offspring that are at the same stage of descent from a common ancestor: Mother and daughters represent two generations.
2. Biology A form or stage in the life cycle of an organism: asexual generation of a fern.
3. The average interval of time between the birth of parents and the birth of their offspring.
4a. A group of individuals born and living about the same time.
4b. A group of generally contemporaneous individuals regarded as having common cultural or social characteristics and attitudes: "They're the television generation" (Roger Enrico).
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Microsoft Encarta Dictionary Definition:
gen·er·a·tion, noun:
1. group of contemporaries: all of the people who were born at approximately the same time, considered as a group, and especially when considered as having shared interests and attitudes : the younger generation
2. stage in descent: a single stage in the descent of a family or a group of people, animals, or plants, or the individual members of that stage : three generations down the line
3. time taken to produce new generation: the period of time that it takes for people, animals, or plants to grow up and produce their own offspring, in humans held to be between 30 and 35 years : after three generations of war and conflict
4. particular generation in sequence: a particular numbered stage in the sequence of generations of a person being identified with a particular characteristic ( usually used in combination ) : a first-generation immigrant; a third-generation graduate
5. new type: a particular stage in the development of a product or technology, especially one marking a significant advance : one of the new generation of computers
6. phase in life cycle: one of the successive phases that make up the life cycle of some organisms : the gametophyte generation
7. production of power: the production of electricity, heat, or some other form of energy
8. production of young: the act or process of bringing offspring into being
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Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary Definition:
gen·er·a·tion
1a : a body of living beings constituting a single step in the line of descent from an ancestor
1b : a group of individuals born and living contemporaneously
1c : a group of individuals having contemporaneously a status (as that of students in a school) which each one holds only for a limited period
1d : a type or class of objects usually developed from an earlier type <first of the…new generation of powerful supersonic fighters — Kenneth Koyen>
2a : the action or process of producing offspring : procreation
2b : the process of coming or bringing into being <generation of income>
2c : origination by a generating process : production; especially : formation of a geometric figure by motion of another
3 : the average span of time between the birth of parents and that of their offspring
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Strong's Greek Dictionary Definition of the Greek Word "GENEA" (G1074) used by Jesus at Matthew 24:34:
"GENEA" (Translated as "GENERATION")
Outline of Biblical Usage of this word:
1) fathered, birth, nativity
2) that which has been begotten, men of the same stock, a family
2a) the several ranks of natural descent, the successive members of a genealogy
2b) metaphorically a group of men very like each other in endowments, pursuits, character
2c) especially in a bad sense, a perverse nation
3) the whole multitude of men living at the same time
4) an age (i.e. the time ordinarily occupied be each successive generation), a space of 30 - 33 years
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WATCHTOWER SOCIETY DEFINITIONS:
* Before 1995: All of those people alive in the same year that a major event occurred, or all of those born in the same year.
* 1995 - 2008: All wicked people who are alive anytime since the year 1914. There is no time limit for this generation.
* 2008-2009: All of the Anointed Remnant who are alive during the last days anytime since 1914. There is no time limit on this generation.
* 2010: The Anointed who witnessed the events of 1914 AND the Anointed whose lives overlap with those original Anointed and who are alive when the Great Tribulation begins.