SPECIES

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does species mean? 

• SPECIES (noun)
  The noun SPECIES has 2 senses:

1. (biology) taxonomic group whose members can interbreed

2. a specific kind of something

  Familiarity information: SPECIES used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPECIES (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(biology) taxonomic group whose members can interbreed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("species" is a kind of...):

taxon; taxonomic category; taxonomic group (animal or plant group having natural relations)

Meronyms (parts of "species"):

variety ((biology) a taxonomic category consisting of members of a species that differ from others of the same species in minor but heritable characteristics)

Meronyms (members of "species"):

breed; stock; strain (a special variety of domesticated animals within a species)

form; strain; var.; variant ((biology) a group of organisms within a species that differ in trivial ways from similar groups)

Domain category:

biological science; biology (the science that studies living organisms)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "species"):

bacteria species (a species of bacteria)

endangered species (a species whose numbers are so small that the species is at risk of extinction)

fish species (a species of fish)

type species ((biology) the species that best exemplifies the essential characteristics of the genus to which it belongs)

Holonyms ("species" is a member of...):

genus ((biology) taxonomic group containing one or more species)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A specific kind of something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

a species of villainy

Hypernyms ("species" is a kind of...):

form; kind; sort; variety (a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality)

 Context examples 

Any bacteria that is not assigned to the species level but can be assigned to the Mitsuokella genus level.

(Mitsuokella, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

A report released this week reveals 381 new species of plants and animals found in the Amazon between 2014 and 2015.

(Report unveils 381 new plant and animal species in Amazon, Agência Brasil)

Any bacteria that is not assigned to the species level but can be assigned to the Abiotrophia genus level.

(Abiotrophia, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Any bacteria that is not assigned to the species level but can be assigned to the Actinobacillus genus level.

(Actinobacillus, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

There are multiple alpha and beta tubulin genes and they are highly conserved among and between species.

(Microtubule, NCI Thesaurus/LocusLink)

I have good reason to believe, that he took me for a young one of his own species, by his often stroking my face very gently with his other paw.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Any bacteria that is not assigned to the species level but can be assigned to the Microbacterium genus level.

(Microbacterium, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Any bacteria that is not assigned to the species level but can be assigned to the Mobiluncus genus level.

(Mobiluncus, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Any bacterial organism that can be assigned to the species Mitsuokella multacida.

(Mitsuokella multacida, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

I heard her sweeping away; and soon after she was gone, I suppose I had a species of fit: unconsciousness closed the scene.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)