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• genet
  genet

  noun

  any small, Old World carnivore of the genus Genetta, especially G. genetta, having spotted sides and a ringed tail.
• Genet
  Genet

  noun

  Jean 1910–86, French playwright and novelist.
• Genêt
  Genêt

  noun

  Edmond Charles Edouard Citizen Genêt, 1763–1834, French minister to the U.S. in 1793.

genet

¹ American  

[jen-it, juh-net] / ˈdʒɛn ɪt, dʒəˈnɛt /

Or genette

noun

1. any small, Old World carnivore of the genus Genetta, especially G. genetta, having spotted sides and a ringed tail.

2. the fur of such an animal.

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genet ² American  

[jen-it] / ˈdʒɛn ɪt /

noun

1. jennet.

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Genet ³ American  

[zhuh-ney, zhuh-ne] / ʒəˈneɪ, ʒəˈnɛ /

noun

1. Jean 1910–86, French playwright and novelist.

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Genêt ⁴ American  

[zhuh-ney, zhuh-ne] / ʒəˈneɪ, ʒəˈnɛ /

noun

1. Edmond Charles Edouard Citizen Genêt, 1763–1834, French minister to the U.S. in 1793.

2. pen name of Janet Flanner.

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genet ¹ British  

/ ˈdʒɛnɪt, dʒɪˈnɛt /

noun

1. any agile catlike viverrine mammal of the genus Genetta, inhabiting wooded regions of Africa and S Europe, having an elongated head, thick spotted or blotched fur, and a very long tail

2. the fur of such an animal

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Genet ² British  

/ ʒənɛ /

noun

1. Jean (ʒɑ̃). 1910–86, French dramatist and novelist; his novels include Notre-Dame des Fleurs (1944) and his plays Les Bonnes (1947) and Le Balcon (1956)

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genet ³ British  

/ ˈdʒɛnɪt /

noun

1. an obsolete spelling of jennet

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Etymology

Origin of genet

1375–1425; late Middle English < Old French genette < Arabic jarnait

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

genet Genet Genêt

Like the egret, the genet feeds on insects stirred up by the grazing ungulates.

From National Geographic ● Sep. 17, 2015

At around $5 per pound, the servaline genet, a type of small carnivore, was the most expensive species for sale at both urban and rural markets.

From New York Times ● Dec. 29, 2011

The lavender had not yet bloomed, but roses were in flower; yellow genet flamed above the low stone hotel walls.

From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2011

Later, when she listened to the hoot of an eagle owl, the hiss of a genet, and the hrrr-hrrr grunt of a foraging honey badger, she didn’t feel quite as confident.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

“Maybe. We just didn’t have permits to trap leopards. We did collect genet cats, and it wasn’t there.”

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

Mr. Currey asks an important question about Genet, but assays no answer: “Was it prison that enabled his writing, or was it the act of theft that he practiced so assiduously during all those years?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

Isaac Paulos lived with his parents, Genet Shawo and Paulos Tekle, and his three-year-old brother Luca on the 18th floor.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2024

“It just became pin-drop silent,” said Michael Genet, one of the show’s actors.

From New York Times ● Mar. 17, 2023

“People have been through big traumas and a very difficult situation and they expect to come here and be taken care of,” but they’re not, Genet said.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 5, 2023

Deciding to appeal to Congress over the head of the President, Genet had copies of his instructions printed, demanding that they should be laid before both houses.

From Thomas Jefferson The Apostle of Americanism by Gilbert Chinard

Glamorously writing under the byline Genêt, she filled her dispatches with more fizz than champagne.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 19, 2026

Genêt would not accept this decision and kept recruiting supporters, warmly courting the Democratic-Republican Societies, and hinting at Washington’s overthrow.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018

The infuriated president demanded Genêt’s recall, and the Genêt Affair convinced Federalists that French revolutionaries could never be trusted.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018

Genêt arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, amid great Democratic-Republican fanfare.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 30, 2014

The situation was made worse in April by the arrival of the French republic’s new minister, Edmond Charles Genêt.

From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy