phylogeny
/faɪˈlɒdʒɪni/
noun
Origin
Ancient Greek
phylon + genesis — tribe/race + origin/creation
Overview
Meaning Now
- The evolutionary history and diversification of a species or group of organisms, or of a particular feature of an organism.
- The developmental history of a group of organisms compared with their ontogeny.
Literal older meaning
origin of the tribe/race
Language path
Ancient Greek → German → English
Earliest form
Phylogenie
Earliest period
19th century
Journey
The term was introduced by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel in his 1866 work 'Generelle Morphologie der Organismen'. It was developed as a counterpart to 'ontogeny' to provide a systematic framework for understanding the evolutionary relationships among organisms during the post-Darwinian scientific era.
Evolution
- Ancient Greek
phylon
“race, tribe, clan”
- 1866 German
Phylogenie
“evolutionary history of a species”
Coined by Ernst Haeckel
- 1870s English
phylogeny
“evolutionary history”
Direct adaptation of the German term
Connections
Word parts
phylo-
root
related to tribe or race
-geny
suffix
related to production or origin
Related across languages
German
Phylogenie
phylogeny
French
phylogénie
phylogeny
Explore next
Related to phylogeny
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.