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genre

noun, plural gen·res [zhahn-ruh z; French zhahn-ruh] /ˈʒɑn rəz; French ˈʒɑ̃ rə/.

a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like: the genre of epic poetry; the genre of symphonic music.
Fine Arts.
1. paintings in which scenes of everyday life form the subject matter.
2. a realistic style of painting using such subject matter.
genus; kind; sort; style.

adjective

Fine Arts. of or relating to genre.
of or relating to a distinctive literary type.

noun

1. kind, category, or sort, esp of literary or artistic work
2. (as modifier)genre fiction
a category of painting in which domestic scenes or incidents from everyday life are depicted

1770, as a French word in English (nativized from c.1840), from French genre “kind, sort, style” (see gender). Used especially in French for “independent style.” Of painting, “depicting scenes of ordinary life” (as compared to “landscape,” “historical,” etc.) from 1849.

The kind or type of a work of art, from the French, meaning “kind” or “genus.” Literary genres include the novel and the sonnet. Musical genres include the concerto and the symphony. Film genres include Westerns and horror movies.