phylogeny

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)”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /faɪˈlɒdʒəni/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /faɪˈlɑdʒəni/

phylogeny (countable and uncountable, plural phylogenies)

1. (systematics) The evolutionary history of groups of organisms, such as species or clades.
2. (systematics, informal) A phylogenetic diagram.
3. The historical development of a human social or racial group.

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

4. The historical development of any thing, idea, etc.
   • 2010, The Journey of Child Development →ISBN:

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

• phylogenesis

• cophylogeny
• geophylogeny
• macrophylogeny
• ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny

• phylogenetics
• phylogenic

• ontogeny

• phylogeny in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.