English
genre
Genre comes from French genre ‘kind’, from Latin genus ‘birth, origin, lineage, descent’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce, beget’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to produce, beget’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵénh₁os‘race’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*genosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgenusas genere‘birth, origin, lineage, descent’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400gen(d)re
- Frenchc. 1600–presentgenre‘kind’
- Englishearliest quotation 2013genre
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to produce, beget’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵénh₁os‘race’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*genosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgenusas genere‘birth, origin, lineage, descent’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400gen(d)re
- Frenchc. 1600–presentgenre‘kind’
- Englishearliest quotation 2013genre
Earliest quotation: 2013, S. Alexander Reed, Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music: “One of the difficulties that plague conversations about industrial…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce, beget’
kind, king, nation, nature, native, german, engine, pregnant, genuine, genetic, ken, genius, indigenous, naive, kin, gentle, noel, innate, natal, genesis, nee, nativity, nada, naïve, janata, genital, degenerate, genealogy, ingenious, germ, nascent, degeneration, puny, cognate, regenerate, gentile, jaunty, gingerly, azadi, gens, 96 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os ‘race’
oxygen, gene, hydrogen, genocide, glycogen, estrogenic, 22 more
through Proto-Italic *genos
transgender, regeneration, engender, 8 more
through Latin genus ‘birth, origin, lineage, descent’
general, generation, gender, generate, generous, genuinely, generic, generosity, genus, generative, 12 more
Today it means
noun A kind; a stylistic category or sort, especially of literature or other artworks.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- / genre