noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A rank in the classification of organisms, below kingdom and above class; also called a divisio or a division, especially in describing plants; a taxon at that rank

   "Mammals belong to the phylum Chordata."

2. 2
   (biology) the major taxonomic group of animals and plants; contains classes wordnet
3. 3
   A large division of possibly related languages, or a major language family which is not subordinate to another.
4. 4
   (linguistics) a large group of languages that are historically related wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

affiliationantonomasiaapparentationbinomial nomenclaturebiological classificationbiosystematics

Example

More examples

"Lobsters and insects belong to the same phylum known as arthropods."

Etymology

From Latin phylum, from Ancient Greek φῦλον (phûlon, “tribe, race”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.