Etymograph

English

phylum

Phylum comes from Latin phylum, from Ancient Greek φῦλον ‘tribe, race’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, grow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-1‘to be, grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-lom1reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφῡλή2phūlḗ‘tribe’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφῦλον3phûlon‘tribe, race’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphylum3
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1995phylum3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek φυλή
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek φῦλον
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English phylum
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1995, Natalie Angier, Flyspeck on a Lobster Lip Turns Biology on Its Ear: “While biologists are perpetually finding new species, they can…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek φυλή‘to be, grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-lomWiktionary, Ancient Greek φυλήreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφῡλήWiktionary, Ancient Greek φῦλονphūlḗ‘tribe’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφῦλονWiktionary, English phylumphûlon‘tribe, race’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphylumWiktionary, English phylum
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1995phylumWiktionary, English phylum. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1995, Natalie Angier, Flyspeck on a Lobster Lip Turns Biology on Its Ear: “While biologists are perpetually finding new species, they can…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, grow’

be, been, power, possible, future, present, build, improve, presence, essential, bond, physical, bush, bound, absence, contribution, entity, booth, approve, probability, absent, favorable, physician, distribute, contributor, fiat, bun, favourable, bouquet, retribution, attribution, imp, rebuke, impotent, impossibility, bower, aren, beamer, bosque, approbation, 83 more

through Ancient Greek φῦλον ‘tribe, race’

phylogeny, 7 more

Today it means

noun A rank in the classification of organisms, below kingdom and above class; also called a divisio or a division, especially in describing plants; a taxon at that rank

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “phylum”; 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- / phylum

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