noun pl. genera gen′·era (jen′ər ə) or genuses ge′·nuses

1. a class; kind; sort
2. Biol. a major category in the classification of animals, plants, etc., ranking above a species and below a family: it can include one species or many similar species: the Latinized genus name is capitalized and italicized, and precedes the species name, which is italicized but not capitalized (Ex.: Homo sapiens, modern man)
3. Logic a class of things made up of subordinate classes or species

Etymology: L, birth, origin, race, species, kind < IE base *ĝen-, to beget, produce > L gignere, to beget, gens, clan, Gr genos, race, gignesthai, to be born, Ger kind, child, OE (ge)cynd, kind, cennan, to beget; also, with loss of initial g-, L nasci, to be born, natura, nature