Word
genera
Phoneticsgen·era
US/ˈdʒɛnɝə/
UK/dʒˈɛnəɹɐ/
Definition
n. the plural form of 'genus'. It refers to groups of living things, like animals or plants, that share similar features.
n. the plural of 'genus'; refers to taxonomic categories ranking below a family and above a species. Used in biological classification to group structurally or phylogenetically related organisms.
Examples
“The scientist studied several different genera of tropical birds.”
“While the two plants look similar, they actually belong to entirely different genera within the same family.”
“The fossil record reveals that many ancient genera became extinct during the late Cretaceous period, paving the way for the diversification of modern mammals.”
Examples
simple
“The scientist studied several different genera of tropical birds.”
contextual
“While the two plants look similar, they actually belong to entirely different genera within the same family.”
complex
“The fossil record reveals that many ancient genera became extinct during the late Cretaceous period, paving the way for the diversification of modern mammals.”
Usage
The plural form of 'genus'; follows Latin pluralization rules rather than adding '-es'.
Pitfall
many genuses
many genera
The standard plural of 'genus' is 'genera', though 'genuses' is occasionally seen in non-scientific contexts.
Real-World Examples
“These rocks were previously thought to share some fossil genera with rocks in South Africa, which were thought to be Middle Triassic.” “The researchers identified 23 TENT4-dependent elements distributed across 19 viral genera and classified them into six distinct types based on their sequences, structures and use of cellular cofactors.” Etymology
From Latin genera (“clans”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/genera