taxonomy

tax·on·o·my

noun \tak-ˈsä-nə-mē\

Definition of TAXONOMY

1

: the study of the general principles of scientific classification : systematics

2

: classification; especially : orderly classification of plants and animals according to their presumed natural relationships

— tax·o·nom·ic \ˌtak-sə-ˈnä-mik\ also tax·o·nom·i·cal \-mi-kəl\ adjective

— tax·o·nom·i·cal·ly \-mi-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

— tax·on·o·mist \tak-ˈsä-nə-mist\ noun

Examples of TAXONOMY

1. the taxonomies of various plant groups

Origin of TAXONOMY

French taxonomie, from tax- + -nomie -nomy

First Known Use: circa 1828

Other Biology Terms

autochthonous, fecund, homunculus, phylogeny, substrate

Rhymes with TAXONOMY

antonymy, autonomy, economy, eponymy, gastronomy, synonymy

tax·on·o·my

noun \tak-ˈsän-ə-mē\   (Medical Dictionary)

plural ; tax·on·o·mies

Medical Definition of TAXONOMY

1

: the study of the general principles of scientific classification : systematics

2

: orderly classification of plants and animals according to their presumed natural relationships

taxonomy

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

In biology, the classification of organisms into a hierarchy of groupings, from the general to the particular, that reflect evolutionary and usually morphological relationships: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species. The black-capped chickadee, for example, is an animal (kingdom Animalia) with a dorsal nerve cord (phylum Chordata) and feathers (class Aves: birds) that perches (order Passeriformes: perching birds) and is small with a short bill (family Paridae), a song that sounds like “chik-a-dee” (genus Poecile), and a black-capped head (species atricapillus). Most authorities recognize five kingdoms: monerans (prokaryotes), protists, fungi (see fungus), plants, and animals. Carolus Linnaeus established the scheme of using Latin generic and specific names in the mid-18th century; his work was extensively revised by later biologists.