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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

“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

Soon she is tackling Proust, discussing Jean Genet with the president of France and delving into biographies of Sylvia Plath.

From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2022

Genet fanned the flames till the patient Washington could endure it no longer; the unwise minister was recalled, and neutrality was proclaimed April 22, 1793.

From Famous American Statesmen by Sarah Knowles Bolton

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 19, 2026

He reluctantly accepted a second term, but Citizen Genêt, the Democratic-Republican Societies, protests of Jay’s Treaty, and the Whiskey Rebellion had all tested his reliance on deference and consensus.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018

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

France authorized Genêt to issue letters of marque—documents authorizing ships and their crews to engage in piracy—to allow him to arm captured British ships in American ports with U.S. soldiers.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 30, 2014

Washington gave Genêt what amounted to a diplomatic cold shoulder, meeting with him very briefly, but refusing to discuss the subject of United States support of the French.

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