clade

noun

ˈklād 

: a group of biological taxa (such as species) that includes all descendants of one common ancestor

Examples of clade in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Outbreaks of clade 2 started the global mpox outbreak in 2022.3 Symptoms Mpox symptoms usually start a few weeks after the initial infection. —Francisco J. Rivera Rosario, Health, 7 June 2025

While it’s rarely been found in the Middle East, clade IV-B was previously identified in the remains of one cat who lived in medieval Kazakhstan, between 775 and 940 C.E. That cat is the oldest house cat ever found on the Silk Road. —Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Mar. 2025

By comparison, homes on Earth host between 10 and 15 percent of these clades and outdoor environments nearly 30. —Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 27 Feb. 2025

Phylogenetic analyses yield conflicting results: some position it near the base of squamates, others as a distant relative separate from both major lizard clades and snakes, highlighting the limits of fragmentary amber fossils. —Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Greek kládos "branch, sprig, frond," after cladogenesis — more at clado-

Note: The term was introduced by Julian huxley in "The Three Types of Evolutionary Process," Nature, vol. 180, no. 4584 (September 7, 1957), p. 455.

First Known Use

1911, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for clade

• aid
• aide
• bade
• blade
• braid
• dade
• fade
• flayed
• fraid
• frayed
• gade
• glade