polyphyletic
adjective
polyphyletic is spelled P-O-L-Y-P-H-Y-L-E-T-I-C: 12 letters. It appears about once in every 48 million words in written English, the 214,628th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, polyphyletic means “Having multiple ancestral sources; referring to a taxon that does not contain the most recent common ancestor of its members” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in polyphyletic?
| Letters | 12: P-O-L-Y-P-H-Y-L-E-T-I-C |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 48 million words; the 214,628th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is polyphyletic?
Polyphyletic appears about once in every 48 million words in written English, the 214,628th 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).
Forms of polyphyletic
- more polyphyletic comparative
- most polyphyletic superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does polyphyletic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having multiple ancestral sources; referring to a taxon that does not contain the most recent common ancestor of its members.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Polyphyletic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense having multiple ancestral sources:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | polyphyletisch |
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 polyphyletic come from?
From poly- + phyletic.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).