phylum
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
Example
“Mammals belong to the phylum Chordata.”
Other meanings
A large division of possibly related languages, or a major language family which is not subordinate to another.
Related words
- infraphylum
- interphylum
- intraphylum
- macrophylum
- monophylum
- paraphylum
- phylal
- subphylum
- superphylum
Word history
From Ancient Greek "φῦλον" (tribe, race).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “phylum” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.