PHYLUM (phyla)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: phyla   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does phylum mean? 

• PHYLUM (noun)
  The noun PHYLUM has 2 senses:

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

2. (biology) the major taxonomic group of animals and plants; contains classes

  Familiarity information: PHYLUM used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PHYLUM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("phylum" is a kind of...):

social group (people sharing some social relation)

Domain category:

linguistics (the scientific study of language)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(biology) the major taxonomic group of animals and plants; contains classes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("phylum" is a kind of...):

taxon; taxonomic category; taxonomic group (animal or plant group having natural relations)

Meronyms (members of "phylum"):

subphylum ((biology) a taxonomic group ranking between a phylum and a class)

class ((biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more orders)

Domain category:

biological science; biology (the science that studies living organisms)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "phylum"):

Nemertea; Nemertina; phylum Nemertea; phylum Nemertina (proboscis worms)

division ((botany) taxonomic unit of plants corresponding to a phylum)

Echinodermata; phylum Echinodermata (radially symmetrical marine invertebrates including e.g. starfish and sea urchins and sea cucumbers)

phylum Sipuncula; Sipuncula (peanut worms)

Brachiopoda; phylum Brachiopoda (marine invertebrates that resemble mollusks)

Cycliophora; phylum Cycliophora (tiny marine organisms each the size of a period found in great numbers on lobsters' lips; identified tentatively in 1995 as a new phylum or as possible link between Entoprocta and Ectoprocta)

Endoprocta; Entoprocta; phylum Entoprocta (sometimes considered a subphylum of Bryozoa)

Ectoprocta; phylum Ectoprocta (coextensive with or a subphylum of Bryozoa)

Bryozoa; phylum Bryozoa; polyzoa (marine or freshwater animals that form colonies of zooids)

Phoronida; Phoronidea; phylum Phoronida (small phylum of wormlike marine animals)

Mollusca; phylum Mollusca (gastropods; bivalves; cephalopods; chitons)

Annelida; phylum Annelida (segmented worms: earthworms; lugworms; leeches)

Aschelminthes; Nematoda; phylum Aschelminthes; phylum Nematoda (unsegmented worms: roundworms; threadworms; eelworms)

phylum Rotifera; Rotifera (a phylum including: rotifers)

phylum Pogonophora; Pogonophora (beard worms)

phylum Pyrrophyta; Pyrrophyta (a division of lower plants comprising unicellular and biflagellate algae that form starchy compounds)

phylum Platyhelminthes; Platyhelminthes (flatworms)

Chaetognatha; phylum Chaetognatha (arrowworms: a group of small active transparent marine worms)

Acanthocephala; phylum Acanthocephala (phylum or class of elongated wormlike parasites that live in the intestines of vertebrates: spiny-headed worms)

Ctenophora; phylum Ctenophora (comb jellies; sea acorns; a small phylum formerly considered a class of Coelenterata)

Cnidaria; Coelenterata; phylum Cnidaria; phylum Coelenterata (hydras; polyps; jellyfishes; sea anemones; corals)

phylum Porifera; Porifera (coextensive with the subkingdom Parazoa: sponges)

Pentastomida; subphylum Pentastomida (tongue worms)

Arthropoda; phylum Arthropoda (jointed-foot invertebrates: arachnids; crustaceans; insects; millipedes; centipedes)

Craniata; subphylum Craniata; subphylum Vertebrata; Vertebrata (fishes; amphibians; reptiles; birds; mammals)

subphylum Tunicata; subphylum Urochorda; subphylum Urochordata; Tunicata; Urochorda; Urochordata (tunicates)

Cephalochordata; subphylum Cephalochordata (lancelets)

Chordata; phylum Chordata (comprises true vertebrates and animals having a notochord)

Cryptophyta; phylum Cryptophyta (a phylum in the kingdom Protoctista)

phylum Protozoa; Protozoa (in some classifications considered a superphylum or a subkingdom; comprises flagellates; ciliates; sporozoans; amoebas; foraminifers)

Holonyms ("phylum" is a member of...):

kingdom (the highest taxonomic group into which organisms are grouped; one of five biological categories: Monera or Protoctista or Plantae or Fungi or Animalia)

 Context examples 

A species of facultatively anaerobic, Gram positive, cocci shaped bacteria assigned to the phylum Firmicutes.

(Aerococcus viridans, NCI Thesaurus)

A species of Gram positive, cocci shaped bacteria assigned to the phylum Firmicutes.

(Aerococcus urinae, NCI Thesaurus)

A taxonomic phylum within kingdom Bacteria consisting of gram-positive soil bacteria with a high G+C ratio.

(Actinobacteria, NCI Thesaurus)

A species of anaerobic, Gram negative rod shaped bacteria assigned to the phylum Proteobacteria.

(Actinobacillus suis, NCI Thesaurus)

Children who were exposed during their first year of life to a greater variety of bacteria—particularly from the phyla Bacteriodetes and Firmicutes—were also less likely to wheeze at age 3.

(Infant Exposure to Allergens May Help Prevent Wheezing, NIH)

A taxonomic family of isoprenoid pigrment producing bacterium in the phylum Actinobacteria that includes the genera Agromyces, Clavibacter, Leifsonia and Microbacterium, among others.

(Microbacteriaceae, NCI Thesaurus)

A species of aerobic, Gram positive, rods assigned to the phylum Actinobacteria.

(Mycobacterium chelonae, NCI Thesaurus)

A taxonomic family of bacterium in the phylum Proteobacteria that includes the genera Moraxella, Acinetobacter and Psychrobacter, among others.

(Moraxellaceae, NCI Thesaurus)

A species of obligately anaerobic, Gram positive, rod shaped bacterium assigned to the phylum Firmicutes.

(Mogibacterium timidum, NCI Thesaurus)

A taxonomic suborder of Gram positive, soil borne bacterium in the phylum Actinobacteria that includes the genera Tropheryma and Ruania, among others.

(Micrococcineae, NCI Thesaurus)