Definition of genre

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< -genous

genro >

gen·re    (zhänr) KEY 

NOUN:

1. A type or class: "Emaciated famine victims ... on television focused a new genre of attention on the continent" (Helen Kitchen).
2. 1. A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, marked by a distinctive style, form, or content: "his six String Quartets ... the most important works in the genre since Beethoven's" (Time).
   2. A realistic style of painting that depicts scenes from everyday life.

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ETYMOLOGY:
French, from Old French, kind, from Latin genus, gener-; see gen- in Indo-European roots