a major taxonomic division of living organisms that contain one or more classes. An example is the phylum Arthropoda (insects, crustaceans, arachnids, etc, and myriapods) any analogous group, such as a group of related language families or linguistic stocks
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
phy•lum
(fī′ləm),USA pronunciation n., pl. -la (-lə).USA pronunciation
phy′lar, adj.
- Biologythe primary subdivision of a taxonomic kingdom, grouping together all classes of organisms that have the same body plan.
- Linguisticsa category consisting of language stocks that, because of cognates in vocabulary, are considered likely to be related by common origin. Cf. stock (def. 13).
- Greek phŷlon tribe, stock; see phylon
- Neo-Latin
- 1875–80
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'phylum' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Algonquian
- Annelida
- Apache
- Archaeocyathid
- Arthropoda
- Aschelminthes
- Athapascan
- Australian
- Bryozoa
- Chinook
- Chordata
- Ciliophora
- Cnidaria
- Coelenterata
- Ctenophora
- Cyanophyta
- Ectoprocta
- Mayan
- Navajo
- acanthocephalan
- actinomycete
- allophylian
- amoeba
- angiosperm
- annelid
- arrowworm
- arthropod
- ascomycete
- bacteria
- basidiomycete
- basidiomycota
- body plan
- brachiopod
- bryophyte
- bryozoan
- category
- chaetognath
- chilomonad
- chordate
- chrysomonad
- chrysophyte
- ciliate
- class
- classification
- cnidarian
- coelenterate
- comb jelly
- conifer
- coniferous
- cryptomonad