Genus Meaning
/ˈdʒiːnəs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA category in the classification of organisms, ranking below family (Lat. familia) and above species.
nounA category in the classification of organisms, ranking below family (Lat. familia) and above species., A taxon at this rank.
Sentence Examples
The yellow-eyed penguin is the sole extant species in the genus Megadyptes.
Whortleberry may refer to the berries of several plants of genus Vaccinium.
The genus Canis contains wolves, coyotes, and jackals.
CEFR Practice Quiz
In biology class, we learned the lion belongs to the Panthera ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
All dogs, wolves, and coyotes belong to the same biological ____, which is known as Canis.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os Proto-Italic *genos Latin genusbor. English genus Borrowed from Latin genus (“birth, origin, a race, sort, kind”) from the root gen- in Latin gignō (“to beget, produce”). Doublet of gender and genre, further related to kin.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Müller […] criticized the division of the "Jubuleae" into two families and he cited Jubula as an annectant genus."
— 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 6:
"Other maloid genera with hard nutlets are Cotoneaster, Hesperomeles, Osteomeles, and Pyracantba, but each of these is quite different from Mespilus and Crataegus."
— 2003, James B. Phipps, Robert J. O'Kennon, Ronald W. Lance, Hawthorns and Medlars, Portland, O.R.: Timber Press, →ISBN, page 57:
"Recollection is one of a whole genus of effects which are more or less peculiar to the phenomena that we naturally call "mental.""
— 1945, Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy, page 655:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In biology class, we learned the lion belongs to the Panthera ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
All dogs, wolves, and coyotes belong to the same biological ____, which is known as Canis.