genus

/ˈdʒiːnəs/

//ˈdʒiːnəs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"genus" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“genus” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,701. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,701
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
18
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A category in the classification of organisms, ranking below family (Lat. familia) and above species.

Corpus desk

Index EN-genus · genus · English

genus · rank #10,701 · 7 variants · 18 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #10,701
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 18 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH gases

Nearest frequency peer: gases (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “genus”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “genus” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

genus vs Gus
40% similar
genus vs GNU
0% similar
genus vs gets
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for genus
PropertyValue
Headwordgenus
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈdʒiːnəs/
Letters5
Frequency rank#10,701
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs18
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “genus”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).genuslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “gases” (#10,700), “gloria” (#10,702), “glove” (#10,703). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “genus” is #10,701. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around genus (IPA /ˈdʒiːnəs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #10,701 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for genus, with forms such as "egnus", "gennus", and "gensu". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 18 confusable-pair relationships, "Gus", "GNU", "gets", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 o… The correct English form is genus, spelled G-E-N-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A category in the classification of organisms, ranking below family (Lat. familia) and above species.
  2. 2
    A category in the classification of organisms, ranking below family (Lat. familia) and above species.
  3. 3
    A group with common attributes.
  4. 4
    A natural number representing any of several related measures of the complexity of a given manifold or graph.
  5. 5
    Within a definition, a broader category of the defined concept.
  6. 6
    A type of tuning or intonation, used within an Ancient Greek tetrachord.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how genus appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. All magnolias belong to the genus Magnolia.
  2. Other species of the genus Bos are often called cattle or wild cattle.

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 and genre, further related to kin.

This word in other languages

género(Español)genre(Français)Gattung(Deutsch)gênero(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • egnus
  • gennus
  • gensu
  • genuss
  • geuns
  • ggenus
  • gneus

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of genus - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

egnus2gennus1gensu2genuss1geuns2ggenus1gneus2
Edit distance from "genus"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "genus"?
"genus" is spelled G-E-N-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdʒiːnəs/.
What does "genus" mean?
As a noun, "genus" means: A category in the classification of organisms, ranking below family (Lat. familia) and above species.
What words are commonly confused with "genus"?
"genus" is commonly confused with "Gus", "GNU", "gets". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "genus"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "genus" is /ˈdʒiːnəs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "genus"?
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”).... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "genus", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

gases#10,700glove#10,703grabs#10,704greed#10,707

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

greet7 variantsexcel7 variantsDixon7 variantsnegro7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list