Pl. subgenera. [f. SUB- 7 b + GENUS. Cf. F. sous-genre (Cuvier).] A subordinate genus; a subdivision of a genus of higher rank than a species.

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1813.  Prichard, Phys. Hist. Man, iii. § 3. 110. The family of Mustelæ are distinguished by Cuvier into four departments or sub-genera. Ibid., 111. An American animal of the subgenus Mephitis.

2

1849.  Balfour, Man. Bot., § 708. Occasionally, a subgenus is formed by grouping certain species, which agree more nearly with each other in some important particulars than the other species of the genus.

3

1857.  [see SUBCLASS].

4

1885.  Encycl. Brit., XVIII. 733/1. The well-known Gold and Silver Pheasants … each the type of a distinct section or sub-genus.

5