genus

[jee-nuhs]

noun

plural

genera, genuses 

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

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

3. a kind; sort; class.

genus

/ ˈdʒiːnəs /

noun

1. 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 )

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

3. a class, group, etc, with common characteristics

4. 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

genus

plural

genera 

1. 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.”

2. See Table at taxonomy

genus

1. 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.)

Other Word Forms

• pseudogenus noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of genus¹

1545–55; < Latin: race, stock, kind, gender; cognate with Greek génos. See gens, gender ¹, kin

Word History and Origins

Origin of genus¹

C16: from Latin: race

Example Sentences

In the second major Ocean Species Discoveries collection, more than 20 researchers collaborated to describe 14 new marine invertebrate species and two new genera from across the globe.

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Spiders of the genus Dysdera have undergone remarkable diversification in the Canary Islands, a region often described as a natural laboratory for studying evolution in isolation.

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Recognizing Nanotyrannus as a valid genus reshapes our picture of the late Cretaceous ecosystem.

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Scientists once assumed it was the only member of its genus in the region.

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Members of this genus are found throughout East Asia and the northern Indochinese Peninsula, where they occupy a wide variety of mountain habitats.

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