English
phylon
Phylon comes from Ancient Greek φῦλον ‘race, tribe’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, grow’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-1‘to be, grow’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-lom1reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφῡλή2phūlḗ‘tribe’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφῦλον3phûlon‘race, tribe’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEphȳlon3
- Englishtodayphylon3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek φυλή
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek φῦλον
- 3 Wiktionary, English phylon
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek φυλή‘to be, grow’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-lomWiktionary, Ancient Greek φυλήreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφῡλήWiktionary, Ancient Greek φῦλονphūlḗ‘tribe’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφῦλονWiktionary, English phylonphûlon‘race, tribe’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEphȳlonWiktionary, English phylon
- EnglishtodayphylonWiktionary, English phylon
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, grow’
be, been, power, possible, future, present, build, improve, presence, essential, physical, bush, bound, absence, bond, contribution, entity, booth, approve, probability, absent, favorable, physician, distribute, fiat, bun, contributor, favourable, bouquet, imp, retribution, attribution, rebuke, impotent, impossibility, bower, aren, beamer, bosque, busk, 83 more
through Ancient Greek φῦλον ‘race, tribe’
Today it means
noun All of the organisms descending from a given common ancestor, regarded as a race, tribe, vel sim.; a clade.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “phylon”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek φυλή, Ancient Greek φῦλον. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- / phylon