genus
genus (jee-n[schwa]s orjen-[schwa]s). A general class comprising several species or divisions. • In legal usage, the terms genus and (sometimes) species invoke the taxonomic classification of life forms in biological science. For example, patent law is a species within the genus of intellectual property; burglary is a species within the genus of crime. In the law of sales, genus referred to fungibles, while species referred to specific, individual items. Cf. SPECIES(2).