Definition of Phylum

1. Noun. (linguistics) a large group of languages that are historically related.

Category relationships: Linguistics
Generic synonyms: Social Group

2. Noun. (biology) the major taxonomic group of animals and plants; contains classes.
Specialized synonyms: Phylum Pyrrophyta, Pyrrophyta, Phylum Protozoa, Protozoa, Cryptophyta, Phylum Cryptophyta, Chordata, Phylum Chordata, Cephalochordata, Subphylum Cephalochordata, Subphylum Tunicata, Subphylum Urochorda, Subphylum Urochordata, Tunicata, Urochorda, Urochordata, Craniata, Subphylum Craniata, Subphylum Vertebrata, Vertebrata, Arthropoda, Phylum Arthropoda, Pentastomida, Subphylum Pentastomida, Phylum Porifera, Porifera, Cnidaria, Coelenterata, Phylum Cnidaria, Phylum Coelenterata, Ctenophora, Phylum Ctenophora, Acanthocephala, Phylum Acanthocephala, Chaetognatha, Phylum Chaetognatha, Phylum Platyhelminthes, Platyhelminthes, Nemertea, Nemertina, Phylum Nemertea, Phylum Nemertina, Phylum Pogonophora, Pogonophora, Phylum Rotifera, Rotifera, Aschelminthes, Nematoda, Phylum Aschelminthes, Phylum Nematoda, Annelida, Phylum Annelida, Mollusca, Phylum Mollusca, Phoronida, Phoronidea, Phylum Phoronida, Bryozoa, Phylum Bryozoa, Polyzoa, Ectoprocta, Phylum Ectoprocta, Endoprocta, Entoprocta, Phylum Entoprocta, Cycliophora, Phylum Cycliophora, Brachiopoda, Phylum Brachiopoda, Phylum Sipuncula, Sipuncula, Echinodermata, Phylum Echinodermata, Division
Category relationships: Biological Science, Biology
Group relationships: Kingdom
Generic synonyms: Taxon, Taxonomic Category, Taxonomic Group
Member holonyms: Subphylum, Class

Definition of Phylum

1. n. One of the larger divisions of the animal kingdom; a branch; a grand division.

2. n. A series of animals or plants genetically connected.

Definition of Phylum

1. Noun. (context: 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 ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Phylum

1. a taxonomic division [n -LA]

Medical Definition of Phylum

1. The second highest taxonomic classification for the kingdom Animalia (animals), between kingdom level and class level. (07 May 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Phylum

phylogeography
phylome
phylon
phylosopher
phylosophers
phylosophic
phylosophical
phylosophicall
phylosophick
phylosophie
phylosophies
phylosophy
phylospecies
phylotype
phylotypes
phylum (current term)
phylum Acanthocephala
phylum Annelida
phylum Arthropoda
phylum Aschelminthes
phylum Brachiopoda
phylum Bryozoa
phylum Chaetognatha
phylum Chordata
phylum Cnidaria
phylum Coelenterata
phylum Cryptophyta
phylum Ctenophora
phylum Cycliophora
phylum Echinodermata

Literary usage of Phylum

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. An Introduction to the Study of Fossils (plants and Animals) by Hervey Woodburn Shimer (1914)
"The sexes are united in the same individual. Many forms are parasitic. This is the lowest phylum to assume a pronounced bilateral symmetry. ..."

2. College zoology by Robert William Hegner (1918)
"They have been placed by many authors under the phylum ... the present tendency is to separate them from that group and rank them as a distinct phylum (p ..."

3. A Text-book of Zoology by Thomas Jeffery Parker, William Aitcheson Haswell (1921)
"... in the phylum Chordata is an arrangement the propriety of which is not universally admitted, and is carried out here partly to obviate the inconvenience ..."

4. General Zoologyby Arthur Sperry Pearse by Arthur Sperry Pearse (1917)
"CELLS 37 V. phylum ARTHROPODA, CLASS CRUSTACEA, LAW OF BIOGENESIS 45 VI. ... phylum PROTOZOA 134 XIII. THE ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE METAZOA 147 XIV ..."

5. Zoology: An Elementary Text-book by Arthur Everett Shipley, Ernest William MacBride (1904)
"The term Invertebrata is also a mere collective name; it is employed to designate all animals which do not belong to the phylum Vertebrata. ..."

6. A Manual of Zoology by Thomas Jeffery Parker, William Aitcheson Haswell (1905)
"SECTION XL —phylum MOLLUSCA GROUPED together in the phylum Mollusca are a large assemblage of animals exhibiting as great a diversity in their structure as ..."

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