generativity

G2E1N1E1R1A1T1I1V4I1T1Y4

noun

The ability to create or reproduce.

Scrabble 19
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

noungenerativity (countable and uncountable, plural generativities)

plural generativities

  1. countableuncountableThe ability to create or reproduce.

    Generativity is a broad property of systems that denotes the capacity of agents within them to connect to others and produce unanticipated outcomes and change.

    2015, Daniel Araya, editor, Smart Cities as Democratic Ecologies, Springer, →ISBN
  2. countableuncountabledevelopmental psychologyThe ability to transcend personal interests to provide care and concern for younger and older generations.

    Most broadly, Erikson (1975) considers generativity to mean any caring activity that contributes to the spirit of future generations, such as the generation of new or more mature persons, products, ideas, or works of art.

    1995, Marc H. Bornstein, editor, Handbook of Parenting, volume 2, →ISBN

Origin

From generative + -ity. In the psychology sense coined by psychoanalyst Erik Erikson in 1950.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

generativity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/generativity

MLA

“generativity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/generativity. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “generativity,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/generativity.

Source: generativity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.