genre

n. A distinctive type of literary or artistic materials, usually characterized by style or function rather than subject, physical characteristics, or form2.

Notes

Typical examples of genres include correspondence and contracts. The subject matter and form of a genre may be quite varied. For example, a contract may relate to work done for hire, the loan of materials, or purchase of materials. Those contracts may be take the form of personalized letters or boilerplate documents and may be preprinted forms or holographs.