phylogeny

/faɪˈlɒd͡ʒəni/

//faɪˈlɒd͡ʒəni// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"phylogeny" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“phylogeny” is uncommon English (frequency #53,164 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,164
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The evolutionary history of groups of organisms, such as species or clades.

Corpus desk

Index EN-phylogeny · phylogeny · English

phylogeny · rank #53,164 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,164
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH phaser

Nearest frequency peer: phaser (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “phylogeny”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “phylogeny” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for phylogeny
PropertyValue
Headwordphylogeny
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/faɪˈlɒd͡ʒəni/
Letters9
Frequency rank#53,164
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “phylogeny” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).phylogenyfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “phaser” (#53,163), “physic” (#53,165), “pica” (#53,166). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “phylogeny” is #53,164. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

phylogeny is uncommon English at frequency #53,164 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /faɪˈlɒd͡ʒəni/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for phylogeny, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from German Phylogenie, coined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866, a neologism created as if borrowed from a Classic Greek word φυλογένεια (phulogéneia), composed from Ancient Greek φῦλον (phûlon, “tribe, genus, species”) + Ancient Greek -γένεια (-géneia, “-… The correct English form is phylogeny, spelled P-H-Y-L-O-G-E-N-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The evolutionary history of groups of organisms, such as species or clades.
  2. 2
    A phylogenetic diagram.
  3. 3
    The historical development of a human social or racial group.
  4. 4
    The historical development of any thing, idea, etc.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how phylogeny appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. It was a bestiary more than a hundred years old, its entries organised by a quaintly outdated phylogeny and illustrated with hand-tinted plates.
  2. Holonym: tree of life

Etymology

Borrowed from German Phylogenie, coined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866, a neologism created as if borrowed from a Classic Greek word φυλογένεια (phulogéneia), composed from Ancient Greek φῦλον (phûlon, “tribe, genus, species”) + Ancient Greek -γένεια (-géneia, “-geny (generation, production)”).

Synonyms

phylogenesis

This word in other languages

filogenia(Español)phylogénie(Français)Phylogenie(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "phylogeny"?
"phylogeny" is spelled P-H-Y-L-O-G-E-N-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /faɪˈlɒd͡ʒəni/.
What does "phylogeny" mean?
As a noun, "phylogeny" means: The evolutionary history of groups of organisms, such as species or clades.
How do you pronounce "phylogeny"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "phylogeny" is /faɪˈlɒd͡ʒəni/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "phylogeny"?
Borrowed from German Phylogenie, coined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866, a neologism created as if borrowed from a Classic Greek word φυλογένεια (phulogéneia), composed from Ancient Greek φῦλον (phûlon, “tribe, genus, species”) + Ancient Greek -γένεια (-... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "phylogeny", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Oregonian#53,149Nollywood#53,138refunding#53,204multitask#53,121

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list