generate
UK/ˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.ɹeɪt//ˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.ɹeɪt/
generate verb: to bring into being; give rise to.
Verb
generate (third-person singular simple present generates, present participle generating, simple past and past participle generated)
- To bring into being; give rise to.
- The discussion generated an uproar.
- The Ecclesiastical Commission was generated by Sir Robert Peel and bore the marks of Peel’s personality; bureaucratic, capable and cold.1966, Owen Chadwick, The Victorian Church, volume 1, page 126
- To produce as a result of a chemical or physical process.
- Adding concentrated sulphuric acid to water generates heat.
- To procreate, beget.
- They generated many offspring.
- To form a figure from a curve or solid.
- Rotating a circle generates a sphere.
- To appear or occur; be generated.
- Mrs. Fennel, seeing the steam begin to generate on the countenances of her guests, crossed over and touched the fiddler's elbow and put her hand on the serpent's mouth.1883, Thomas Hardy, The Three Strangers
Adjective
generate (not comparable)
- Generated, not self-existent.
- But neither is one time generated in another; for if the preſent be generated in the future, the future muſt be present; and if in the paſt, the paſt. The ſame may be ſaid of other times; therefore one time is not generated in another. Now if time be neither generated in itſelf, nor one time in...1659–1660, Thomas Stanley, “[A Summary of Scepticism.] Chap[ter] XVII. Of Time.”, in The History of Philosophy, the Third and Last Volume, […], volume III, London: […] Humphrey Moseley, and Thomas...
- It poses the thorny problem of the status of the Logos. Is he generate or ingenerate?.. Justin replies that he is generate—but in a special sense.1965, R. A. Norris, God & World in Early Chrisian Theology, volume ii. 67
- Antonyms:
- ingenerate
generate meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
generate in Hindi
- bring into being
- उपजाना upjānā
- produce as a result of a chemical or physical process
- उत्पादन करना utpādan karnā
generate in Tamil
- ஈன், இயற்று
generate in Urdu
- عالم وجود میں لانا, پیدا کرنا, تخلیق کرنا
generate in Bengali
- উৎপাদন করা, সৃষ্টি করা, জন্মান, উদ্ভূত করান, উপজা, জন্মদান দেওয়া
More languagesFewer languages
- generate in Malayalam
- ജനിപ്പിക്കുക, വൈദ്യുതിയുത്പാദിപ്പിക്കുക, ഭവിപ്പിക്കുക, പരിണമിപ്പിക്കുക
- generate in Punjabi
- ਉਤਪੰਨ ਕਰੋ
- generate in Gujarati
- પેદા કરો
- generate in Sanskrit
- जन् jan
- generate in Vietnamese
- sinh ra, gây ra, gây nên, đẻ ra
Examples of generate in a sentence
- “If I can generate a book in a day, and you need six months to write a book, who’s going to win the race?” she said.2026 February 8, Alexandra Alter, quoting Coral Hart, “The New Fabio Is Claude”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- But neither is one time generated in another; for if the preſent be generated in the future, the future muſt be present; and if in the paſt, the paſt.1659–1660, Thomas Stanley, “[A Summary of Scepticism.] Chap[ter] XVII. Of Time.”, in The History of Philosophy, the Third and Last Volume...
Synonyms of generate
Antonyms
Forms of generate
| third-person singular present | generates |
|---|---|
| present participle | generating |
| past participle | generated |
| past | generated |
Origin of generate
From Latin generō (“beget, procreate, produce”) + -ate (verb-forming suffix), from genus (“a kind, race, family”, gener- in compounds) + -ō; see genus. Compare Italian generare, French générer (and its older (and now obsolete) English cognate from Middle French, gender (“engender, breed, copulate”)).
Learned borrowing from Latin generātus, perfect passive participle of generō (“beget, procreate, produce”). See Etymology 1 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.
Words formed from generate
Questions about generate
- What does generate mean?
- Generate means to bring into being; give rise to.
- What is generate in Hindi?
- Generate in Hindi is उपजाना (upjānā), उत्पादन करना (utpādan karnā). See Generate meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use generate in a sentence?
- “If I can generate a book in a day, and you need six months to write a book, who’s going to win the race?” she said.
- What part of speech is generate?
- Generate can be a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce generate?
- Generate is pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.ɹeɪt/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of generate?
- The past tense of generate is generated.
Words near generate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: generate (page history and authors); generate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); generate (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); generate (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); generate (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); generate (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); generate (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); जन् (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-generate.ogg.
Cite this entry: “generate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/generate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.