The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Genre \Gen"re\ (zh[aum]N"r'), n. [F. See Gender.]
   1. Kind; genus; class; form; style, esp. in literature.

            French drama was lisping or still inarticulate; the
            great French genre of the fabliau was hardly born.
                                                  --Saintsbury.

            A particular demand . . . that we shall pay special
            attention to the matter of genres -- that is, to the
            different forms or categories of literature. --W. P.
                                                  Trent.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   2. (Fine Arts) A style of painting, sculpture, or other
      imitative art, which illustrates everyday life and
      manners.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

genre
    n 1: a kind of literary or artistic work
    2: a style of expressing yourself in writing [syn: writing
       style, literary genre, genre]
    3: an expressive style of music [syn: music genre, musical
       genre, genre, musical style]
    4: a class of art (or artistic endeavor) having a characteristic
       form or technique

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

78 Moby Thesaurus words for "genre":
   Platonic form, Platonic idea, aesthetic form, archetype, art form,
   blood, brand, breed, build, cast, category, character, clan, class,
   color, configuration, conformation, cut, denomination, description,
   designation, fashion, feather, figuration, figure, form, format,
   formation, frame, genus, grain, ilk, impression, inner form,
   kidney, kin, kind, label, layout, line, lines, lot, make, makeup,
   manner, mark, matrix, modality, mode, model, mold, movement,
   nature, number, pattern, pencil, persuasion, phylum, prototype,
   race, school, set, shape, significant form, sort, species, stamp,
   strain, stripe, structure, style, the grand style, the like of,
   the likes of, tribe, turn, type, variety