genus

See also: Genus, ĝenus, and -genus

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os

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, genre, and kin.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: jēn’-əs, jĕn’-əs, IPA^(key): /ˈdʒiːnəs/, /ˈdʒɛnəs/
• (US) enPR: jēn’-əs, IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒiːnəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːnəs, -ɛnəs
• Hyphenation: ge‧nus

Noun

genus (plural genera or (both nonstandard) genuses or genusses)

2. (biology, taxonomy) A category in the classification of organisms, ranking below family (Lat. familia) and above species.

   All magnolias belong to the genus Magnolia.

   Other species of the genus Bos are often called cattle or wild cattle.

   There are only two genera and species of seadragons.

   • 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:

     Müller […] criticized the division of the "Jubuleae" into two families and he cited Jubula as an annectant genus.

   1. A taxon at this rank.
4. A group with common attributes.
   • 1945, Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy, page 655:

     Recollection is one of a whole genus of effects which are more or less peculiar to the phenomena that we naturally call "mental."

6. (topology, graph theory, algebraic geometry) A natural number representing any of several related measures of the complexity of a given manifold or graph.
8. (semantics) Within a definition, a broader category of the defined concept.
10. (music) A type of tuning or intonation, used within an Ancient Greek tetrachord.

Usage notes

• (biology, taxonomy, rank in the classification of organisms): See generic name, binomial nomenclature.
• Do not confuse a genus of things with the genius of things.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:class

Hyponyms

• (topology, graph theory): Euler genus
• (music): chromatic, diatonic, enharmonic (genus)

Derived terms

• cloud genus
• form genus
• genus alternas
• genus name
• intergenus
• summum genus
• type genus

 

Related terms

• gender
• general
• generate
• generation
• generic
• genocide
• genre
• infrageneric

 

Descendants

• → Malayalam: ജീനസ് (jīnasŭ)
• → Swahili: jenasi
• → Thai: สกุล (sà-gun) (semantic loan)

Translations

rank in a taxonomic classification between family and species

• Afrikaans: genus (af), geslag (af)
• Albanian: gjini (sq) f
• Arabic: جِنْس (ar) m (jins)
• Armenian: ցեղ (hy) (cʻeġ)
• Azerbaijani: cins (az)
• Belarusian: род m (rod)
• Bengali: গণ (bn) (gon), বর্গ (bn) (borgo)
• Bulgarian: род (bg) m (rod)
• Burmese: မျိုးစု (my) (myui:cu.)
• Carpathian Rusyn: род m (rod)
• Catalan: gènere (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 屬／属 (suk⁶)

  Hokkien: 屬／属 (zh-min-nan) (sio̍k)

  Mandarin: 屬／属 (zh) (shǔ)

• Czech: rod (cs) m
• Danish: slægt c, genus (da) n
• Dutch: geslacht (nl) n
• Esperanto: genro (eo)
• Estonian: perekond (et)
• Finnish: suku (fi)
• French: genre (fr) m
• Galician: xénero (gl) m
• Georgian: გვარი (ka) (gvari)
• German: Gattung (de) f
• Greek: γένος (el) n (génos)
• Hindi: वंश (hi) m (vañś)
• Hungarian: nemzetség (hu)
• Icelandic: ættkvísl (is) f
• Ido: genero (io)
• Irish: géineas m
• Italian: genere (it) m
• Japanese: 属 (ja) (ぞく, zoku)
• Kazakh: тұқымдас (tūqymdas)
• Khmer: ពួក (km) (puək)
• Korean: 속(屬) (ko) (sok)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: tuxm (ku)

• Kyrgyz: уруу (ky) (uruu)
• Lao: ຈຳພວກ (cham phūak), ຈຳພວກ (cham phūak), ຊາດ (lo) (sāt), ຊາຕິ (sā ti)
• Lithuanian: gentis f
• Macedonian: род m (rod)
• Malagasy: karazana (mg)
• Malay: genus
• Malayalam: ജനുസ്സ് (ml) (janussŭ), ജീനസ് (jīnasŭ)
• Maori: puninga
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: төрөл (mn) (töröl)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: slekt m or f

• Occitan: genre (oc)
• Persian: سرده (fa) (sarde), جنس (fa) (jens)
• Polish: rodzaj (pl) m
• Portuguese: gênero (pt) m
• Romanian: gen (ro) n
• Russian: род (ru) m (rod)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ро̑д m

  Roman: rȏd (sh) m

• Slovak: rod (sk) m
• Slovene: rod m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: rod m

  Upper Sorbian: ród m

• Spanish: género (es) m
• Swahili: jenasi
• Swedish: släkte (sv) n, genus (sv) n
• Tagalog: urihay
• Tajik: ҷинс (tg) (jins)
• Telugu: ప్రజాతి (te) (prajāti)
• Thai: สกุล (th) (sà-gun)
• Turkish: cins (tr)
• Ukrainian: рід m (rid)
• Urdu: جنس (ur) (jins)
• Uzbek: jins (uz), urugʻ (uz)
• Vietnamese: chi (vi)
• Volapük: bid (vo)\
• Welsh: genws (cy)

taxon at this rank

• Catalan: gènere (ca) m
• Czech: rod (cs) m
• Danish: slægt c, genus (da) n
• Dutch: geslacht (nl) n
• Esperanto: genro (eo)
• Finnish: suku (fi)
• French: genre (fr) m
• Galician: xénero (gl) m
• Georgian: გვარი (ka) (gvari)
• German: Gattung (de) f
• Greek: γένος (el) n (génos)
• Hungarian: nemzetség (hu)
• Ido: genero (io)
• Irish: géineas m
• Italian: genere (it) m
• Latvian: ģints (lv) m
• Macedonian: род m (rod)
• Occitan: genre (oc)
• Persian: سرده (fa) (sarde)
• Portuguese: gênero (pt) m
• Spanish: género (es) m
• Swedish: släkte (sv) n, genus (sv) n

group with common attributes

• Bulgarian: клас (bg) m pl (klas)
• Dutch: soort (nl) f
• Finnish: suku (fi), ryhmä (fi)
• Galician: clase (gl) f
• Greek: γένος (el) n (génos), είδος (el) n (eídos)
• Irish: aicme f
• Macedonian: сој m (soj)
• Occitan: classa (oc)

topological invariant

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 虧格／亏格 (zh) (kuīgé)

• Danish: genus (da)
• Finnish: genus (fi)
• Galician: xénero (gl) m
• Italian: genere (it) m
• Japanese: 種数 (しゅすう, shusū)
• Portuguese: gênero (pt) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} genere
• Maltese: ^{(please verify)} ġeneru
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} género (es) m

See also

• (semantics): differentia
• (biological taxa):

• domain
• kingdom
• phylum/division
• class
• order
• family
• supergenus
• genus
  • subgenus, section, series
• species

Further reading

• “genus”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “genus”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Negus, negus

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin genus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡeːnus/, [ˈɡ̊eːnus]

Noun

genus n (plural indefinite genus or genera)

1. (biology, taxonomy) genus

   Synonym: slægt

2. (grammar) gender

   Synonym: køn

Further reading

• genus on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin genus. Doublet of gender and genre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɣeː.nʏs/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ge‧nus

Noun

genus n (plural genera)

1. (botany) a rank in a taxonomic classification, in between family and species.

   Synonym: geslacht

2. (botany) a taxon at this rank

   Synonym: geslacht

3. (linguistics) gender

   Synonym: geslacht

Derived terms

• subgenus
• supergenus

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin genus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡenus/, [ˈɡe̞nus̠]
• Rhymes: -enus
• Syllabification^(key): ge‧nus

Noun

genus

1. (botany) Synonym of suku (“genus”)
2. (topology) genus

   Synonym: suku

Declension

Inflection of genus (Kotus type 39/vastaus, no gradation)
nominative		genus	genukset
genitive		genuksen	genusten genuksien
partitive		genusta	genuksia
illative		genukseen	genuksiin
		singular	plural
nominative		genus	genukset
accusative	nom.	genus	genukset
	gen.	genuksen
genitive		genuksen	genusten genuksien
partitive		genusta	genuksia
inessive		genuksessa	genuksissa
elative		genuksesta	genuksista
illative		genukseen	genuksiin
adessive		genuksella	genuksilla
ablative		genukselta	genuksilta
allative		genukselle	genuksille
essive		genuksena	genuksina
translative		genukseksi	genuksiksi
abessive		genuksetta	genuksitta
instructive		—	genuksin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of genus (Kotus type 39/vastaus, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative genukseni genukseni accusative nom. genukseni genukseni gen. genukseni genitive genukseni genusteni genuksieni partitive genustani genuksiani inessive genuksessani genuksissani elative genuksestani genuksistani illative genukseeni genuksiini adessive genuksellani genuksillani ablative genukseltani genuksiltani allative genukselleni genuksilleni essive genuksenani genuksinani translative genuksekseni genuksikseni abessive genuksettani genuksittani instructive — — comitative — genuksineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative genuksesi genuksesi accusative nom. genuksesi genuksesi gen. genuksesi genitive genuksesi genustesi genuksiesi partitive genustasi genuksiasi inessive genuksessasi genuksissasi elative genuksestasi genuksistasi illative genukseesi genuksiisi adessive genuksellasi genuksillasi ablative genukseltasi genuksiltasi allative genuksellesi genuksillesi essive genuksenasi genuksinasi translative genukseksesi genuksiksesi abessive genuksettasi genuksittasi instructive — — comitative — genuksinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative genuksemme genuksemme accusative nom. genuksemme genuksemme gen. genuksemme genitive genuksemme genustemme genuksiemme partitive genustamme genuksiamme inessive genuksessamme genuksissamme elative genuksestamme genuksistamme illative genukseemme genuksiimme adessive genuksellamme genuksillamme ablative genukseltamme genuksiltamme allative genuksellemme genuksillemme essive genuksenamme genuksinamme translative genukseksemme genuksiksemme abessive genuksettamme genuksittamme instructive — — comitative — genuksinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative genuksenne genuksenne accusative nom. genuksenne genuksenne gen. genuksenne genitive genuksenne genustenne genuksienne partitive genustanne genuksianne inessive genuksessanne genuksissanne elative genuksestanne genuksistanne illative genukseenne genuksiinne adessive genuksellanne genuksillanne ablative genukseltanne genuksiltanne allative genuksellenne genuksillenne essive genuksenanne genuksinanne translative genukseksenne genuksiksenne abessive genuksettanne genuksittanne instructive — — comitative — genuksinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative genuksensa genuksensa accusative nom. genuksensa genuksensa gen. genuksensa genitive genuksensa genustensa genuksiensa partitive genustaan genustansa genuksiaan genuksiansa inessive genuksessaan genuksessansa genuksissaan genuksissansa elative genuksestaan genuksestansa genuksistaan genuksistansa illative genukseensa genuksiinsa adessive genuksellaan genuksellansa genuksillaan genuksillansa ablative genukseltaan genukseltansa genuksiltaan genuksiltansa allative genukselleen genuksellensa genuksilleen genuksillensa essive genuksenaan genuksenansa genuksinaan genuksinansa translative genuksekseen genukseksensa genuksikseen genuksiksensa abessive genuksettaan genuksettansa genuksittaan genuksittansa instructive — — comitative — genuksineen genuksinensa

Latin

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *genos, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os n (“race”), from the root *ǵenh₁- (“to produce, beget”); compare also gēns, gignō and -gnus, from the same root. From the genitive gener-is (< PIE *ǵénh₁es-os), the sound shift -r- < *-s- can be observed, through which the Old Latin form *genes-is can be reconstructed.

Cognates include Ancient Greek γένος (génos, “race, stock, kin, kind”), Sanskrit जनस् (jánas, “race, class of beings”), Proto-Celtic *genos (“birth; family”), and English kin. Doublet of genea.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈɡe.nus/, [ˈɡɛnʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒe.nus/, [ˈd͡ʒɛːnus]

Noun

genus n (genitive generis); third declension

1. birth, origin, lineage, descent
2. kind, type, class
   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 26.1:

     huic generi militum senatus eundem, quem Cannensibus, finem statuerat militiae.

     For this class of soldier the senate had established a limit in duration to their military service, which was the same as the men at Cannae.

3. species (of animal or plant), race (of people)
   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Virgil, Georgics III:

     omne adeo genus in terris hominumque ferarumque / et genus aequoreum pecudes pictaeque volucres / in furias ignemque ruunt

     So far does every species on earth of man and beast, / whether the aquatic species, livestock, or painted-winged, / collapse into the frenzies and the fire [of sex].

4. set, group (with common attributes)
5. (grammar) gender
   • 6th century, Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus (attributed): Commentarium de oratione et de octo partibus orationis. In: „Patrologiae cursus completus sive Bibliotheca universalis, integra, uniformis, commoda, oeconomica, omnium ss. patrum, doctorum scriptorumque ecclesiasticorum qui ab aevo apostolico ad innocentii III tempora floruerunt; […] . Series prima, in qua prodeunt patres, doctores scriptoresque ecclesiae latinae a tertulliano ad gregorium magnum. Accurante J.-P. Migne, cursuum completorum in singulos scientiae ecclesiaticae ramos editore. Patrologiae tomus LXX. Cassiodori tomus posterior. – Magni Aurelii Cassiodori senatoris, viri patricii, consularis, et vivariensis abbatis opera omnia in duos tomos distributa, ad fidem manuscriptiorum codicum emendata et aucta, notis, observationibus et indicibus locupletata, praecedente auctoris vita, quae nunc primum in lucem prodit cum dissertatione de ejus monarchatu. Opera et studio J. Garetii monarchi ordinis sancti Benedicti e congregatione sancti mauri. Nobis autem curantibus accesserunt complexiones in epistolas b. Pauli quas edidit et annotavit scipio Maffeius. Tomus posterior. – Parisiis, venit apud editorem, in via dicta d'amboise, près la barriere d'enfer, ou petit-montrouge. 1847“, p. 1225

     Genera nominum sunt sex: masculinum, ut hic Cato; femininum, ut haec musa; neutrum, ut hoc monile; commune duorum generum, ut hic et haec sacerdos: trium generum, ut hic, et haec, et hoc felix; epicoenon, quod Latine promiscuum dicitur, ut passer, aquila.

     Nouns have six genders: masculine, e.g. hic Cato 'this man Cato'; feminine, e.g. haec musa 'this muse'; neuter, e.g. hoc monile 'this necklace'; common to two genders, e.g. hic et haec sacerdos 'this priest or priestess'; of three genders, e.g. hic, et haec, et hoc felix 'this lucky man, woman or thing'; epicene, called promiscous in Latin, e.g. passer 'sparrow', aquila 'eagle'.

   • 16th century, Andreas Semperius (a.k.a. Andreas Sampere, Andreu Sempere): Andreae Semperii Valentini Alcodiani, doctoris medici, prima grammaticae latinae institutio tribus libris explicata, Majorca/Mallorca, 1819, p.19

     Genera nominum, septem sunt. Masculinum, cui praeponitur hic: ut hic Dominus. Foemineum, cui praeponitur haec: ut haec musa. Neutrum, cui praeponuntur hoc: ut hoc templum. Commune, cui praeponuntur hic, & haec: ut hic, & haec Sacerdos. Omne, cui praeponuntur hic, haec, hoc, vel per tres varias voces inflectitur: ut hic, haec, hoc felix, bonus, bona, bonum. Dubium, quod modo masculinum, modo faemineum, apud Oratores etiam invenitur: ut hic, vel haec dies. Promiscuum, in quo sexus uterque per alterum apparet: ut hic passer, haec aquila, hic lepus.

     Nouns have seven genders. Masculine, which you can precede with hic: hic dominus 'this Lord'. Feminine, which you can precede with haec, e.g. haec musa 'this muse'. Neuter, which you can precede with hoc, e.g. hoc templum 'this temple'. Common, which you can precede with hic and haec: hic & haec sacerdos 'this male or female priest'. Universal, which you can precede with all three of hic, haec, hoc, or which vary in three forms, e.g. hic, haec, hoc felix 'this lucky man, woman, thing', hic bonus, haec bona, hoc bonum 'this good man, good woman, good thing'. Doubtful, which in the orators can be found to be sometimes masculine, sometimes feminine, e.g. hic, vel haec dies 'this day'. Promiscuous, in which a gender appears instead of another, e.g. hic passer 'this sparrow' (always masculine), haec aquila 'this eagle' (always feminine), hic lepus 'this rabbit' (always masculine).

6. (grammar) subtype of word
   • Aelius Donatus, Ars Minor De Verbo:

     Genera verborum quot sunt? Quinque. Quae? Activa passiva neutra deponentia communia.

     How many types of verbs are there? Five. Which ones? Active, passive, neuter, deponent, common.

   • Maurus Servius Honoratus, Commentarius in Artem Donati :

     Verborum genera quinque sunt, activa passiva neutra communia deponentia.

     There are five types of verbs: active, passive, neuter, common, deponent.

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	genus	genera
Genitive	generis	generum
Dative	generī	generibus
Accusative	genus	genera
Ablative	genere	generibus
Vocative	genus	genera

Hyponyms

• (grammar, genera nominum): [genus] fēminīnum, [genus] masculīnum, [genus] neutrum, genus commūne, genus omne
• (grammar, genera verborum): [genus] āctīvum, [genus] passīvum, [genus] neutrum, [genus] commūne, [genus] dēpōnēns, [genus] medium

Derived terms

• bigener
• congener
• dēgener
• generālis
• generātim
• generō
• generōsus
• genus verbī
• suī generis

 

Descendants

• Catalan: gens
• Franco-Provençal: gins
• Old French: giens

Unsorted borrowings:

• → Arabic: جِنْس (jins)
• → Catalan: gènere
• → Danish: genus
• → Dutch: genus
• → English: genus (see there for further descendants)
• → Finnish: genus
• → Galician: xendra, xénero
• → German: Genus
• → Irish: géineas
• → Italian: genere
• → Old French: gen(d)re (see there for further descendants)
• → Norwegian Bokmål: genus
• → Portuguese: género, gênero (Brazil)
• → Romanian: gen
• → Spanish: género
• → Swedish: genus

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈɡe.nuːs/, [ˈɡɛnuːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒe.nus/, [ˈd͡ʒɛːnus]

Noun

genūs

1. genitive singular of genū

References

• “genus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “genus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• genus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • an Englishman by birth: natione, genere Anglus
    
  • the position of the lower classes: condicio ac fortuna hominum infimi generis
    
  • from this point of view; similarly: quo in genere
    
  • from every point of view; looked at in every light: omni ex parte; in omni genere; omnibus rebus
    
  • to be engaged in any branch of study: in aliquo litterarum genere versari
    
  • the species is subordinate the genus: partes generibus subiectae sunt
    
  • to differ qualitatively not quantitatively: genere, non numero or magnitudine differre
    
  • this word is neuter: hoc vocabulum generis neutri (not neutrius) est)
    
  • to be of noble family: generis antiquitate florere
    
  • of illustrious family: nobili, honesto, illustri loco or genere natus
    
  • people of every rank: homines omnis generis
    
  • the aristocracy (as a social class): nobiles; nobilitas; qui nobilitate generis excellunt
    
  • (ambiguous) the male, female sex: sexus (not genus) virilis, muliebris
    
  • (ambiguous) to choose a career, profession: genus vitae (vivendi) or aetatis degendae deligere
    
  • (ambiguous) to analyse a general division into its specific parts: genus universum in species certas partiri et dividere (Or. 33. 117)
    
  • (ambiguous) to transplant to Rome one of the branches of poesy: poesis genus ad Romanos transferre
    
  • (ambiguous) style: genus dicendi (scribendi); oratio
    
  • (ambiguous) elevated, moderate, plain style: genus dicendi grave or grande, medium, tenue (cf. Or. 5. 20; 6. 21)
    
  • (ambiguous) a running style: fusum orationis genus
    
  • (ambiguous) a rough, unpolished style: inconditum dicendi genus (Brut. 69. 242)
    
  • (ambiguous) a bombastic style: inflatum orationis genus
    
  • (ambiguous) to adopt the language of everyday life: accedere ad cotidiani sermonis genus
    

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin genus.

Noun

genus m or n (definite singular genusen or genuset, indefinite plural genera or genus, definite plural genera or generaa or genusa or genusane)

1. (biology, taxonomy) genus
2. (grammar) gender
3. (grammar) voice

References

• “genus” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin genus.

Noun

genus n

1. (grammar) gender (division of nouns and pronouns)
2. (social) gender, sex (social issues of being man or woman)

Usage notes

• Biological gender is called kön. The Latin word genus is used for grammar and more recently for gender studies.

Declension

Declension of genus
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	genus	genuset	genus	genusen
Genitive	genus	genusets	genus	genusens

Synonyms

• (grammar): kön

Related terms

• genusforskning
• genusfråga
• genuspedagogik
• genusperspektiv
• genusteori
• genusväxling
• genusändelse

 

References

• genus in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

Anagrams

• sugen, unges