genus

American  

[jee-nuhs] / ˈdʒi nəs /

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 British  

/ 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 Scientific  

/ jē′nəs /

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 Cultural  

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

Etymology

Origin of genus

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

Example Sentences

The researchers named the genus Algophthora by combining the word 'alga' with the Greek word 'phthora', meaning 'destruction'.

From Science Daily • Mar. 6, 2026

However, this marks the first new genus of Early Jurassic ichthyosaur described from the region in more than 100 years.

From Science Daily • Feb. 24, 2026

The public naming campaign began after Ze Frank featured the rare deep-sea chiton from the genus Ferreiraella in an episode of his "True Facts" YouTube series.

From Science Daily • Feb. 7, 2026

"This discovery is so much more than a simple snapshot of Paranthropus' occurrence: It sheds fresh light on the driving forces behind the evolution of the genus."

From Science Daily • Jan. 23, 2026

Biologists label organisms with a two-part Latin name, genus followed by species.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari