: a class, kind, or group marked by common characteristics or by one common characteristic
specifically: a category of biological classification ranking between the family and the species, comprising structurally or phylogenetically (see phylogeneticsense 2) related species or an isolated species exhibiting unusual differentiation, and being designated by a Latin or latinized capitalized singular noun
2
: a class of objects divided into several subordinate species
the crime novel, written from the criminal's perspective, is sometimes seen as a particular species of the detective story genus
Recent Examples on the WebThe third number that mathematicians use to describe a curve is called its genus. Jordana Cepelewicz, Quanta Magazine, 25 Aug. 2022 However, it wasn’t designated as its own genus until around 2005. Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 7 Aug. 2022 Studies have shown that monkeypox is linked to the Orthopoxvirus genus, which is also found in smallpox and cowpox. Ahjané Forbes, Hartford Courant, 5 July 2022 Here’s the collection of another comb jelly, with notable tentacles and brilliant flashes of color, likely belonging to a new genus (the classification above species) that hasn’t been formally described by researchers. Matt Simon, Wired, 23 Dec. 2021 Instead, the drug was tested in animals against viruses from the same genus as smallpox, including in monkeys with monkeypox. Joseph Walker, WSJ, 25 Aug. 2022 On land, members of the same genus live symbiotically with fungus-growing ants, producing antibacterial and antifungal molecules that deter pathogens from invading the ants' fungal gardens. Stephanie Stone, Scientific American, 23 July 2022 Researchers compared the Joro spider to the golden silk spider, a species in the same genus that has not expanded beyond the southeast, per the study. Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Mar. 2022 One of the flowers preserved in amber was named by researchers Eophylica priscatellata and the other Phylica piloburmensis, the same genus as the Phylica flowers that are native to South Africa today. Katie Hunt, CNN, 1 Feb. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Latin gener-, genus birth, race, kind — more at kin