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{{Disambiguation|the film|Star Trek Generations}}
{{aquote|Here's to the next generation.|[[Jonathan Archer]]|2161|These Are the Voyages...}}
A '''generation''' was a group of [[family|related individuals]] all belonging to a specific time period. The term could also refer to the time period itself. 
{{bginfo|Though not stated in the [[canon]], the period of a generation is considered on average to be about thirty years. This is the amount of time for children to grow up into adults and have offspring of their own.}}

Some [[technology]] was also referred to as belonging to a generation; that is, a certain number of designs removed from the original.
{{Pna-incomplete}}

== Familial generation ==
''[[The Never-Ending Sacrifice]]'' depicted seven generations of one [[Cardassian]] family. ({{DS9|The Wire}})
 
In [[September]] of the same year,{{incite|What year?}} [[Mary Reed]] told {{Captain}} [[Jonathan Archer]], while they were having an on-screen discussion which Archer took in his [[captain's ready room|ready room]], that the [[Reed family]] had been "[[sailor|navy men]]" for generations. ({{ENT|Silent Enemy}})

{{Captain}} [[Keene]] told [[Jonathan Archer]] that [[Keene family|his family]] had been on the {{ECS|Fortunate}} for three generations as of [[2151]]. ({{ENT|Fortunate Son}})

At least six generations of [[Gary Mitchell]]'s [[maternal]] [[Mitchell's maternal ancestors 001|ancestors]] were said to have dabbled in [[metaphysics]], according to his [[medical record]]. ({{TOS|Where No Man Has Gone Before}})

The entire [[Horta]] [[race]], [[Mother Horta|but one]], [[death|dies off]] every [[50,000 years ago|fifty thousand years]], to tend to the previous generation's [[egg]]s. ({{TOS|The Devil in the Dark}})

From [[1937]] to [[2371]], the [[Human]] descendants of [[the 37's]] had lived at the [[Briori colony planet|former]] [[Briori]] [[colony]] for fifteen generations. ({{VOY|The 37's}})

From the [[1990s]] until [[2364]], [[Clare Raymond]]'s [[progeny]] had expanded by ten generations.  ({{TNG|The Neutral Zone}})

From [[2000]] to [[2374]], [[Shannon O'Donnel]], an ancestor of [[Kathryn Janeway]]'s, was fifteen generations removed. [[Seven of Nine]] did not see the relevance of Janeway's interest in such an ancestor, as she "''possess[ed] a small [[fraction]] of her [[genetic material]].''" ({{VOY|11:59}})

In [[2268]], [[Spock]] estimated that "''assuming one [[tribble]], [[reproduction|multiplying]] with an average [[litter]] of ten, producing a new generation every twelve [[hour]]s over a period of three [[day]]s,''" the total amount of tribbles on [[Deep Space Station K-7]] now amounted to 1,771,561, also taking into consideration how much [[quadrotriticale]] they had eaten and the {{dis|volume|physics}} of the [[storage compartment]] they were inside. ({{TOS|The Trouble with Tribbles}})

== Social generation ==
In [[April]] [[2151]], while debating the qualities of [[Human]]ity with [[T'Pol]], [[Charles Tucker III]] mentioned that the Human race had "pretty much" eliminated war, disease and hunger in less than two generations, a situation which Tucker expressed he wouldn't describe as [[metaphor|small potato]]es. ({{ENT|Broken Bow}})

On the [[planet]] [[Terra Nova]], the [[descendant]]s of the {{SS|Conestoga}} [[colonist]]s, the [[Novan]]s, built an [[immunity]] against the [[radioactive]] [[fallout]] of an [[asteroid]] [[impact]] in [[2083]] for generations and took shelter in underground [[tunnel]]s and [[cave]]s for the next three generations until [[2151]], when a [[landing party]] from {{EnterpriseNX}} relocated them to the [[south]]ern [[hemisphere]]. Also embedded in the Novans for two generations was the [[idea]] that [[Human]]s had destroyed [[Terra Nova colony|their]] [[colony]]. ({{ENT|Terra Nova}})

[[Tradition]]al [[Vulcan]] [[litany|litanies]] are passed down for generations. ({{ENT|The Andorian Incident}})

As of the late [[2250s]], generations of Klingon lives had guarded the [[time crystal]]s present on [[Boreth]]. ({{DIS|Through the Valley of Shadows}}) 

When the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701}} was attacked by a [[thermonuclear warhead]] that was launched from the planet [[Ekos]] in [[2268]], [[Leonard McCoy]] commented that such technology was "''generations ahead of where [[Ekosian|these people]] should be technically.''" When he wondered aloud "''How'd they manage that?''" [[James T. Kirk]] thought that "''Maybe they had help.''" Later, [[Isak]], a member of the neighboring [[Zeon]] race, described that his people's "''warlike period ended dozens of generations ago.''" ({{TOS|Patterns of Force}})

[[Benjamin Sisko]] once noted that the [[Prophet]]s sharing glimpses of the future helped generations of [[Bajoran]]s. ({{DS9|The Reckoning}})

In [[2374]], when [[Julian Bashir]] was visited by his fellow [[genetic engineering|genetically engineered]] friends from the [[Institute]] &ndash; {{dis|Jack|24th century}}, [[Lauren]], [[Patrick]], and [[Sarina Douglas|Sarina]] &ndash; they calculated that {{Federation}} [[Dominion War|defeat]] by the [[Dominion]] was inevitable, but that a [[rebellion]] (centered on [[Earth]]) would arise after five generations and that the [[26th century|next generation]] after that would succeed in overthrowing Dominion rule. ({{DS9|Statistical Probabilities}})

== See also ==
* [[Genealogy]]
* [[Generational projection]]
* [[Generational ship]]
* [[Next generation]]

== External link ==
* {{wikipedia}}
[[Category:Societal classifications]]
[[Category:Time measurements]]