genus Latin · revision 5161

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Naevius|origins=ine-pro *ǵenh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈɡɛ.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈd͡ʒɛː.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''genus''' ''n'' (genitive generis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*genos]], [[inh|ine-pro|*ǵénh₁os|t=race, offspring]], from the root [[ine-pro|*ǵenh₁-|t=to beget, produce]], the root of [[gignō]] and [[gēns]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The genitive [[m|la|generis]] comes from *genes-os by the change of /s/ to /r/ between vowels.^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[sa|जन|tr=jána|t=race, people]] and [[grc|γένος|tr=génos|t=race, kind]], and with Gaulish personal names such as [[xtg|Cintugenus]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler give Naevius first.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^(Köbler 2010) In Plautus it is already birth or descent: a character says he was born of the highest stock.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first sense was descent, birth or origin, often with the idea of noble birth, and concretely a family or line.^(OLD 2012) It also meant offspring, a nation or race, a generation, and an order of living creatures, ''genus hūmānum'' was the human race.^(OLD 2012) In philosophy it became a class containing several kinds, and generally any kind, variety or sort of animals, things or abstract matters.^(OLD 2012) Grammarians used it of grammatical gender.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Varro, as the TLL reports, said that ''genus'' was named from begetting, because whatever begets or is begotten can be called a ''genus''.^(TLL) Döderlein groups it with [[stirps]] and [[gēns]] as words for a race seen in the ascending line, the ancestors.^(Döderlein 1874) In medieval British Latin it was stock, lineage and family.^(DMLBS) English took ''genus'' as a term of logic in the 1550s and as a biological rank about 1600.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses the word.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of birth and descent.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero defines a ''genus'' as what embraces several parts.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1550s – English ''genus'' is recorded as a term of logic; the biological sense follows about 1600.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Birth, [[m|en|descent]], origin; noble birth; a family, line.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Offspring.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|nation]], race; a generation.^(OLD 2012)

+ # An order of living creatures, ''genus hūmānum'', mankind.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' A class containing several kinds.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A kind, variety, sort, [[m|en|species]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(grammar)'' [[m|en|gender]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bigener]]

+ * [[congener]]

+ * [[dēgener]]

+ * [[generālis]]

+ * [[generō]]

+ * [[generōsus]]

+ * [[multigenerus]]

+ * [[generātim]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gignō]]

+ * [[gēns]]

+ * [[ingenium]]

+ * [[en|genus]]

+ * [[en|gender]]

+ * [[en|general]]

+ * [[en|generation]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}