phylum
/ˈfaɪləm/noun
phylum is spelled P-H-Y-L-U-M: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 62,179th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, phylum means “A rank in the classification of organisms, below kingdom and above class; also called a divisio or a division, especially in describing plants; a…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of phylum is phyla; Wiktionary also lists phylums (nonstandard).
How many letters and syllables are in phylum?
| Letters | 6: P-H-Y-L-U-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 62,179th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is phylum?
Phylum appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 62,179th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce phylum?
- /ˈfaɪləm/
Phylum has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-phylum.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with phylum
Sounds like: filum (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of phylum
- phyla plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does phylum mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
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
Mammals belong to the phylum Chordata.
- 2
A large division of possibly related languages, or a major language family which is not subordinate to another.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Phylum in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense (biology, taxonomy) A rank in the classification of organisms, below kingdom and:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | embranchement |
| German | Stamm |
| Portuguese | filo |
| Spanish | filo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does phylum come from?
From Latin phylum, from Ancient Greek φῦλον (phûlon, “tribe, race”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).