Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Phylogeny

//faɪˈlɑd͡ʒəni// noun, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The evolutionary history of groups of organisms, such as species or clades. countable, uncountable

    "It was a bestiary more than a hundred years old, its entries organised by a quaintly outdated phylogeny and illustrated with hand-tinted plates."

  2. 2
    (biology) the sequence of events involved in the evolutionary development of a species or taxonomic group of organisms wordnet
  3. 3
    A phylogenetic diagram. countable, informal, uncountable

    "Holonym: tree of life"

  4. 4
    The historical development of a human social or racial group. countable, uncountable

    "Understanding the phylogeny of this musical group helps us understand its music."

  5. 5
    The historical development of any thing, idea, etc. countable, uncountable

    "Indeed, in a recent review article, Mithen (2009) traces the phylogeny of human communication […]"

Etymology

Borrowed from German Phylogenie, coined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866, a neologism created as if borrowed from a Classic Greek word φυλογένεια (phulogéneia), composed from Ancient Greek φῦλον (phûlon, “tribe, genus, species”) + Ancient Greek -γένεια (-géneia, “-geny (generation, production)”).

See also for "phylogeny"

Synonyms Antonyms Rhymes Sentences Translate Word Type Pronunciation Word Forms

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: phylogeny