genus

[jee-nuh s] /ˈdʒi nəs/

noun, plural genera

[jen-er-uh] /ˈdʒɛn ər ə/ (Show IPA), genuses.

Biology. the usual major subdivision of a family or subfamily in the classification of organisms, usually consisting of more than one species.

Logic. a class or group of individuals, or of species of individuals.

a kind; sort; class.

Origin

1545-55; < Latin: race, stock, kind, gender; cognate with Greek génos. See gens, gender¹, kin

Related forms

pseudogenus, noun, plural pseudogenera, pseudogenuses.

Can be confused

genius, genus.

genus, species.

et hoc genus omne

[et hohk ge-noo s ohm-ne; English et hok jee-nuh s om-nee] /ɛt ˈhoʊk ˈgɛ nʊs ˈoʊm nɛ; English ɛt ˈhɒk ˈdʒi nəs ˈɒm ni/

Latin.

and all this (or that) sort of thing.

Also, et id genus omne.

et id genus omne

[et id ge-noo s ohm-ne; English et id jee-nuh s om-nee] /ɛt ˈɪd ˈgɛ nʊs ˈoʊm nɛ; English ɛt ˈɪd ˈdʒi nəs ˈɒm ni/

Latin.

et hoc genus omne.

Examples from the web for genus

The breadth of the genus is stunning, he says.
Suggested penalty for anyone trafficking in the genus Phrynosoma (horned toads) will be 60 days in jail and a 200-dollar fine.
The wasp, in the genus Trissolcus, may be able to nip the stink bug explosion in the bud by preying on stink bug eggs.
This occurred in the origin of our genus Homo about 2.4 million years ago.
Later, they were moved to the genus Pelargonium.
Any of several fast-growing deciduous trees of the genus Populus having unisexual flowers borne in catkins.
Members of the genus Genlisea grow what appear to be traps, but never seem to catch anything.
He loves to classify: genus, species, subspecies.
Additionally other species of the genus Bos are often called cattle or wild cattle.
The okapi is the only other living animal in the Giraffa genus.

British Dictionary definitions for genus

genus

/ˈdʒiːnəs/

noun (pl) genera (ˈdʒɛnərə), genuses

(biology) any of the taxonomic groups into which a family is divided and which contains one or more species. For example, Vulpes (foxes) is a genus of the dog family (Canidae)

(logic) a class of objects or individuals that can be divided into two or more groups or species

a class, group, etc, with common characteristics

(maths) a number characterizing a closed surface in topology equal to the number of handles added to a sphere to form the surface. A sphere has genus 0, a torus, genus 1, etc

Word Origin

C16: from Latin: race

Word Origin and History for genus

(plural genera), 1550s as a term of logic, "kind or class of things" (biological sense dates from c.1600), from Latin genus (genitive generis) "race, stock, kind; family, birth, descent, origin," cognate with Greek genos "race, kind," and gonos "birth, offspring, stock," from PIE root *gen(e)- "produce, beget, be born" (cf. Sanskrit janati "begets, bears," janah "race," janman- "birth, origin," jatah "born;" Avestan zizanenti "they bear;" Greek gignesthai "to become, happen;" Latin gignere "to beget," gnasci "to be born," genius "procreative divinity, inborn tutelary spirit, innate quality," ingenium "inborn character," germen "shoot, bud, embryo, germ;" Lithuanian gentis "kinsmen;" Gothic kuni "race;" Old English cennan "beget, create;" Old High German kind "child;" Old Irish ro-genar "I was born;" Welsh geni "to be born;" Armenian chanim "I bear, I am born").

genus in Medicine

genus ge·nus (jē'nəs)
n. pl. gen·er·a (jěn'ər-ə)
A taxonomic category ranking below a family and above a species and generally consisting of a group of species exhibiting similar characteristics.

genus in Science

genus

(jē'nəs)
Plural genera (jěn'ər-ə)
A group of organisms ranking above a species and below a family. The names of genera, like those of species, are written in italics. For example, Periplaneta is the genus of the American cockroach, and comes from the Greek for "wandering about." See Table at taxonomy.

genus in Culture

genus [(jee-nuhs)]

In biology, the classification lower than a family and higher than a species. Wolves belong to the same genus as dogs. Foxes belong to a different genus from that of dogs and wolves, but to the same family. (See Linnean classification.)