phylogeny
noun
- in psychoanalysis, study of the whole family or species of an organism in order to better understand the pre-history
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /faɪˈlɒd͡ʒəni/ / /faɪˈlɑd͡ʒəni/
noun
Etymology: 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”) + -γένεια (-géneia, “-geny (generation, production)”), equivalent to phylo- + -geny.
- The evolutionary history of groups of organisms, such as species or clades.
“It was a bestiary more than a hundred years old, its entries organised by a quaintly outdated phylogeny and illustrated with hand-tinted plates.”
- A phylogenetic diagram.
“Holonym: tree of life”
- The historical development of a human social or racial group.
“Understanding the phylogeny of this musical group helps us understand its music.”
- The historical development of any thing, idea, etc.
“Indeed, in a recent review article, Mithen (2009) traces the phylogeny of human communication […]”