gentry 
In this class of gentry, including in that wide term all 
who possessed u gentle extraction, the "generosi," "men 
of family, of worship, and coat annum 1 ," are cumpri.scil 
both the knight, whether banneret or bachelor, and the 
squire. Stubbs, Const. Hist., 477. 
6. Persons of a particular class: usually ap- 
plied in ironical civility to persons of an infe- 
rior sort. 
If your success against the Cherokees is equal to report, 
I am in hopes it will bring the Western gentry to their 
second thoughts before they strike. 
Washington, To Col. Sara'l Washington, N. A. Rev.. 
[CXLIII. 484. 
Reader, if thou raeetest one of these small gentry in thy 
early rambles, it is good to give him a penny. 
Lamb, Chimney-Sweepers. 
genty (jen'ti), a. [Sc., = E. jaunty, janty, for- 
Taeily jantee, an approximately phonetic spell- 
ing of F. gentil, and equiv. to E. genteel, from 
the same source: see genteel, jaunty, gentle.] 
Neat ; trim ; slender. 
Sae jimply laced her genty waist, 
That sweetly ye might span. 
Burns, Bonnie Ann. 
genu (je'nu), n.; pi. genua (jen'u-a). [L., = E. 
knee, q. v.] In anat. : (a) The knee ; the mid- 
dle arthron of the hind limb, corresponding 
to ancon, the elbow, of the fore limb. Wilder. 
(6) Some kneed or geniculate part, as the knee- 
like anterior curvature of the corpus callosum 
of the brain, ending in the rostrum or beak of 
that organ : as, the genu of the optic tract. 
genual (jen'u-al), a. and n. [< L. genu, = E. 
knee, + -al.] ' I. a. Pertaining to or connected 
with the knee, specifically with the fourth joint 
of a spider's leg. 
II. n. The fourth joint of a spider's leg, being 
the first of the two forming the shank. 
genuant (jen'u-ant), a. [< L. genu, = E. knee, 
+ -ant.] In her., kneeling. 
genuflect (jen-u-flekf), v. i. [< LL. genuflectere, 
prop, two words, genu flectere, bend the knee : 
L. genu. ace. of genu = E. knee; flectere, bend: 
see flex*. Cf . genuflection.] To bend the knee, 
as in an act of worship or of respect ; perform 
genuflection. 
The priest repeatedly genuflects at Mass. 
Cath. Diet,, Genuflexion. 
His large obeisance puts to shame 
The proudest genuflecting dame 
Whose Easter bonnet low descends 
With all the grace devotion lends. 
0. W. Holmes, The Organ-Blower. 
genuflectentes (jen"u-flek-ten'tez), n. pi. [LL. 
genuflectentes, ppr. pi. of genuflectere, bend the 
knee: see genuflect.] In the early church, a 
class of catechumens who were allowed to re- 
main and join in prayers offered especially for 
them after the audients were dismissed by the 
priest. 
genuflection, genuflexion (jen-u-flek'shon), n. 
[= F. genuflexion = Sp. genuflexion = Pg. genu- 
flexSo = It. genuflessione, < ML. genuflexio(n-), 
< LL. genuflectere, prop, genu flectere, bend the 
knee: see genuflect.] The act of bending the 
knee, particularly in worship. 
They [the first Christians] contented not themselves with 
the ordinary postures of devotion, such as genuflexion, the 
bowing of the head or the body, but did . . . prostrate 
themselves on the pavement 
Bp. Atterbury, Sermons, II. six. 
Of the numerous witnesses who must have beheld Hen- 
rietta performing such extraordinary genuflections at the 
gallows-tree, not one was examined before the privy- 
council; therefore the statement is utterly without evi- 
dence. Jliss Strickland, Queens of Eng. , Henrietta Maria. 
genuflexUQUB (jen-u-flek'su-us), a. [< L. genu, 
= E. knee, + flexiis, a bending, < flectere, pp. 
flexus, bend.] In bot., geuiculately bent; zig- 
zag. 
genuine (jen'u-in), a. [= F. genuine = Sp. Pg. 
It. genuino, < L. genuinus, innate, native, nat- 
ural, < gignere, OL. gcnere, beget, produce : see 
genus.] 1. Belonging to the original stock; 
corresponding to an original type or source ; 
hence, not spurious, false, or adulterated ; not 
of a deceptive or affected character; true; 
real; sincere: applied to both persons and 
things : as, genuine descendants ; genuine ma- 
terials ; a genuine text ; a genuine man. 
Touching France, it is not only doubtful, but left yet un- 
decided, what the true genuine Gallic Tongue was. 
Howell, Letters, ii. 69. 
The political correspondence of Machiavelli, first pub- 
lished in 1767, is unquestionably genuine, and highly val- 
uable. Macaulay, Machiavelli. 
2. In zool,, typical; conformable to type; not 
aberrant : as, the genuine isopods. See Euiso- 
poda. = Sjra. Authentic, Genuine (see authentic) ; veri- 
table, unmistakable, unadulterated, unalloyed. 
2492 
genuinely (jen'u-in-li), adv. In a genuine man- 
Oeocores 
ner. 
But this coxconitjically mingling 
Of rhymes, uurhyming, interjingliug, 
For numbers genuinely British 
Is quite too finical and skittish. 
Byrom, Remarks on a Pamp 
' 
Byrom, Remarks on a Pamphlet. 
genuineness (jen'u-in-nes), n. The state of be- 
ing genuine; freedom from anything false or 
counterfeit ; reality ; sincerity. 
To shew how day and night, winter and summer, arise 
from Copernicus his hypothesis will . . , exceedingly set 
out the fitnesse saiAgenuinenesse of the hypothesis it self. 
Dr. U. More, Philos. Poems, notes, p. 414. 
It is not essential to the genuineness of colours to be 
durable. Boyle. 
It is the "one thing needful," this genuineness; work 
in which it is found has value; other work has no right to 
exist, and had better be destroyed. 
J. R. Seeley, Nat Religion, p. 155. 
genupectoral (jen-u-pek'to-ral), a. [< L. genu, 
= E. knee, +pectus (pector-), breast.] Inpathol., 
pertaining to the knees and the breast: as, 
in the genupectoral position (that is, with the 
knees drawn up toward the breast). 
genus (je'nus), n. ; pi. genera (jen'e-rS,), rarely 
genuses (je'nus-ez) . [In earlier use in the form 
gender (see gender, n.); < L. genus (gener-), birth, 
origin, a race, sort, kind (= Gr. yevof (yeve-, 
orig. *ytvea-), descent, origin, a race, stock, 
etc., sex, gender, a generation, etc., = E. kin, 
q. v.), < ygen in L. gignere. OL. genere, beget, 
produce, = Gr. ylyveaffat, 2a aor. yevtaOai, mid. 
and pass., be born, become, be, = Skt. y jan, 
beget. The words derived from the L. and Gr. 
V/ gen, yev, are very numerous: from L. are ge- 
nus, gender, n. , gender, v. , engender, general, gener- 
ate, generic, generous, congener, etc., genius, ge- 
nial*, eongenial,ingenious, engine, gin*, etc., gens, 
gentile, gentle, genteel, gent 1 , genty, jaunty, etc., 
genital, genitive, genuine, ingenuous, indigenous, 
progeny, progenitor, etc. ; from Gr. are geneal- 
ogy, genesis, biogenesis, etc., genetic, heterogene- 
ous, homogeneous, endogen, exogen, hydrogen, 
oxygen, etc., gonocalyx, gonophore, etc., cosmog- 
ony, geogony, theogony, etc., and many other 
words in -gen, -genie, -genous, -geny, -gony, etc.] 
A kind; a sort; a class. Technically (a) In logic, 
that which can be predicated of things differing in spe- 
cies ; a class having other classes under it. 
We collect things under comprehensive ideas, with 
names annexed to them, into yenera and species, i. e., into 
"kinds" and "sorts." 
Locke, Human Understanding, II. xxxii. 6. 
(6) In zool. and bot., a classincatory group ranking next 
above the species, containing a group of species (some- 
times a single species) possessing certain structural char- 
acters different from those of any others. The value as- 
signed to a genus is wholly arbitrary that is, it is en- 
tirely a matter of opinion or current usage what charac- 
ters shall be considered generic and thus constitute a ge- 
nus; and genera are constantly modified and shifted by 
specialists, the tendency being mostly to restriction of gen- 
era, with the consequent multiplication of their number, 
and the coinage of new generic names. A genus has no 
natural, much less necessary, definition, its meaning be- 
ing at best a matter of expert opinion ; and the same is 
true of the species, family, order, class, etc. A genus of 
the animal kingdom in the time of Linnoms and other 
early naturalists was a group of species approximately 
equivalent to a modern family, sometimes even to an 
order. Probably upward of 100,000 generic names of as 
many supposed genera have been coined or used in zool- 
ogy ; those in current use at present are estimated at about 
60,000, or an average of about (rather more than) one ge- 
nus for every five species in the animal kingdom. In 
botany the genera are less restricted and average a much 
larger number of species, the 9,000 phanerogamic gen- 
era, for example, including 100,000 species. The tenable 
name of any genus is that which has priority of publica- 
tion, if it has been properly published and characterized, 
and is not the same as the prior name of some other genus. 
The names of the genus and the species together form 
the scientific name of an animal or a plant. In writing 
the technical name of any animal or plant, the generic term 
always precedes the specific, and begins with a capital 
letter : as, Musca domestica, the house-fly, where Musca is 
the genus, and domeetica differentiates the species. Genera 
are often subdivided into lesser groups called suhgenera. 
(See subgenus.) A group of genera constitutes a family or 
subfamily. The name of a genus as such has properly no 
plural. If a genus name, as for example Ada, is plural- 
ized, as Adoe, it means, not two or more genera named 
Ada, but either (a) all the species of Ada, or (b) some su- 
pergeueric group of which Ada is the type. The former 
usage is loose, or somewhat cant ; the latter is frequent 
and regular in zoology. A genus name is always supposed 
to be Latin (though its derivation is in the great majority 
of cases from the Greek), and its plural, if used, is in Latin 
form ; but when it is also Anglicized an English plural is 
used : as, the chinchillas, the animals of the genus Chin- 
chilla. 
Genera are most closely allied groups of annuals, differ- 
ing . . . simply in the ultimate structural peculiarities 
of some of their parts ; and this is, I believe, the best defi- 
nition which can be given of genera. 
Agassiz, Essay on Classification, ii. 5. 
(c) In old music, a formula or method of dividing the tet- 
rachord. Three genera were distinguished : the diatonic, 
in which whole steps or "tones" were used; the chro- 
matic, in which only half -steps or semitones were used ; and 
-geny. [< L. or NL. -genia, < Gr. -yfaeia, < -yrvfa, 
the form in comp. of yivog = L. genus, kind, 
genus, < i/ ->EV, produce, bear: see genus.] A 
terminal element meaning ' production, gener- 
ation,' etc., in some abstract compound nouns 
of Greek origin, usually accompanied by con- 
crete nouns in -gen and by adjectives in -gen- 
ous. See -gen and -genous. 
Genypterus (je-nip'te-rus), . [NL., < Gr. 
ytvvf, chin, jaw, = E. chin, 4r nrc/xiv, wing, fin, 
= E. feather.] A genus of fishes, of the family 
Ophidiida;. A New Zealand species, G. blacodes, known 
as the ling or cloudy bay-cod, attains a length of 5 feet 
and a weight of from 15 to 20 pounds. 
genys (je'nis), . [See gonys.] In ornith., same 
as gonys. Sundevall. 
geo (je'6), n. [North. Sc., also written geow, 
rarely geu, goe; < Icel. gja, a chasm or rift in 
fells or crags.] A narrow inlet walled in by 
steep cliffs. 
A strange wild land of stacks and skerries, of voes and 
geos, and of cliffs and caves. 
B. Tudor, The Orkneys and Shetlands. 
gep-. [L. geo-, < Gr. yeu-, very rarely yeo-, com- 
bining form of Attic and Ionic yn, Doric yd, poet. 
Ionic yaia, also ala, the earth, land, a land or 
country.] An element in many compound 
words of Greek origin, meaning ' the earth ' or 
' earth,' or ' land.' 
gepblast (je'o-blast), . [< Gr. yij, earth, + 
/J/Uoro'f, a germ: see blastus.] In bot., a plu- 
mule which in germination rises from under- 
ground, the cotyledons remaining buried, as 
in the pea. 
geobotanical (je*6-bo-tan'i-kal), a. Relating 
to geographical botany, or the distribution of 
plants ; phytogeographical. Nature, XXXVII. 
570. 
Geocarcinidffi (je"o-kar-sin'i-de), n. pi. [NL., 
< Geocarcinus (cf. Gecarcinus) + -idee.] Same 
as Gecarcinida. 
Geocarcinus (je-o-kar'si-nus), n. Same as Ge- 
carcinus. 
geocentric (je-o-sen'trik), a. [< Gr. yij, the earth, 
+ ntvrpov, center: see center^.] In astron., 
having reference to the earth for its center; in 
relation to the earth as a center; hence, seen 
from the earth : a term applied to the place of 
a planet as it would be seen from the center of 
the earth, in opposition to its heliocentric place 
as conceived to be seen from the center of the 
sun. Geocentric latitude, the latitude of a body's 
geocentric place. See celestial latitude, under latitude. 
Geocentric longitude, the longitude of a body's geocen- 
tric place. See celestial longitude, uuder longitude. 
geocentrical (je-o-sen'tri-kal), o. Same as geo- 
centric. 
geocentrically (je-o-sen'tri-kal-i), adv. In a 
geocentric manner. 
Geocichla (je-o-sik'la), n. [NL. (Kuhl, 1828 or 
earlier), < Gr.' yfi, ttie earth, ground, + nix**!, 
a thrush.] A large genus of turdoid or cichlo- 
morphic passerine birds, belonging to the sub- 
family Turdince; the ground-thrushes, of which 
there are about 40 species, of markedly terres- 
trial habits, and having a peculiar pattern of 
coloration on the wings. These thrushes are chiefly 
Asiatic (including the islands of the oriental region zoo- 
logically related to Asia), but several are African, and a few 
Australian. None occur in Europe regularly. Seegrotind- 
thrush, 2. 
geocicnline (je-6-sik'lin), a. [< Geocichla + 
-in 2 .] Resembling a ground-thrush ; charac- 
teristic of or peculiar to the genus Geocichla: 
as, a geocichline thrush; "wing geocichline or 
psophocichline," Seebohm, Cat. Birds, British 
Museum, p. 146. 
Geococcyx (je-o-kok'siks), n. [NL., < Gr. yij, the 
earth, + K6KKv$, a cuckoo: see coccyx.] A ge- 
nus of birds, of the family CucuUdce or cuck- 
oos, and subfamily Saurotherina!. They are char- 
acterized by having the head crested, the plumage coarse, 
variegated, and lustrous on the upper parts, the wings 
short and vaulted, the tail very long, of ten graduated 
tapering feathers, and the feet zygodactylous and large 
and strong, in adaptation to the terrestrial habits of the 
species. Q. californianus is the typical species. It is a 
common bird of the southwestern United States, where 
it is variously known as the chaparral-cock, road-runner, 
snake-killer, paisano, and ground-cuckoo. Another species, 
0. aj/inis, occurs in Mexico. See cut under chaparral- 
cock. 
Geocores (je-ok'o-rez), n. pi. [NL., pi. of Geo- 
coris.] A superfamily of heteropterous insects, 
the land-bugs or Geocorisce. Surmeister, 1835. 
