Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Biology A taxonomic category of organisms ranking below a kingdom and above a class. In the classification of plants, division often replaces phylum.
  • noun Linguistics A large division of possibly genetically related families of languages or linguistic stocks.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In botany, a great group or sub-kingdom of the vegetable kingdom, next above a class.
  • noun Any primary division or subkingdom of the animal or vegetable kingdom. , , , , ,
  • noun The graphic representation of the evolution of one or several forms of animal life by descent with modification from preexisting ancestors, on the principle of the construction of a genealogical table or “family tree.”

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) One of the larger divisions of the animal kingdom; a branch; a grand division.
  • noun (Biol.) A series of animals or plants genetically connected.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun biology, taxonomy A rank in the classification of organisms, below kingdom and above class; also called a division, especially in describing plants; a taxon at that rank
  • noun linguistics A large division of possibly related languages, or a major language family which is not subordinate to another.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (biology) the major taxonomic group of animals and plants; contains classes
  • noun (linguistics) a large group of languages that are historically related

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin phȳlum, from Greek phūlon, class; see bheuə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin phylum, from Ancient Greek φῦλον (phulon, "tribe, race").

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Examples

  • Types of animals that have the same body plan are generally grouped together in the same phylum, which is the biological classification right under kingdom kingdom divides organisms into bacteria, plants, animals, and a few other categories.

    The Edge of Evolution Michael J. Behe 2007

  • Types of animals that have the same body plan are generally grouped together in the same phylum, which is the biological classification right under kingdom kingdom divides organisms into bacteria, plants, animals, and a few other categories.

    The Edge of Evolution Michael J. Behe 2007

  • Types of animals that have the same body plan are generally grouped together in the same phylum, which is the biological classification right under kingdom kingdom divides organisms into bacteria, plants, animals, and a few other categories.

    The Edge of Evolution Michael J. Behe 2007

  • Types of animals that have the same body plan are generally grouped together in the same phylum, which is the biological classification right under kingdom kingdom divides organisms into bacteria, plants, animals, and a few other categories.

    The Edge of Evolution Michael J. Behe 2007

  • The paper above also discusses the problem of the concept of a phylum, which is highly artificial and has lead to much confusion.

    The Cambrian Revisited - The Panda's Thumb 2005

  • Phoenix photoelectric effect photon photosynthesis phrase phylum

    Entry Index: operating system to Pike’s Peak 2002

  • In any event, we can start our classification system at the "phylum" level.

    Archive 2008-01-01 2008

  • In any event, we can start our classification system at the "phylum" level.

    Hey Barkeep! A taxonomy of beer 2008

  • If you do not understand the coeffcients of nuclear (solar and galactic)radiation as an energy inputand its qualitative energy budget or the biochemistry of say refrigerant bacteria such as phylum Pseudomonas the activators and inhibitors of chemical thermodynamics and thermodiffusion state it in your discourse,ie provide a risk matrix of the levels of understanding of unquantified variables and the correlation of accuracy (proof) of the gcm.

    Some Ice Cores in NAS – Antarctic « Climate Audit 2006

  • This, though, was a different line of evolution, even a different phylum, if "phylum" meant anything here.

    Starfarers Anderson, Poul, 1926- 1998

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