Etymograph

English

phylogeny

Phylogeny comes from German Phylogenie, from Ancient Greek φῦλον ‘tribe, genus, species’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, grow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-‘to be, grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-lomreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφῡλήphūlḗ‘tribe’
  4. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEφῦλονphûlon‘tribe, genus, species’
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentPhylogenie
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2010phylogeny

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-‘to be, grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-lomreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφῡλήphūlḗ‘tribe’
  4. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEφῦλονphûlon‘tribe, genus, species’
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentPhylogenie
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2010phylogeny

Earliest quotation: 2010, The Journey of Child Development: “Indeed, in a recent review article, Mithen (2009) traces…”

Formed from phylo- + -geny

Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, become, grow, appear’

Proto-Indo-European *bʰuHyéti ‘to be becoming, to be growing, to be appearing’

Proto-Hellenic *pʰúyō

Ancient Greek φύω ‘to bring forth, produce, generate, cause to grow’

Ancient Greek φῦλον ‘tribe, genus, species’

English phylo-

The story

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”) + -γένεια (-géneia, “-geny (generation, production)”), equivalent to phylo- + -geny.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, grow’

be, been, power, possible, future, build, present, improve, physical, bond, presence, bush, bound, essential, contribution, absence, booth, approve, probability, entity, physician, favorable, absent, distribute, contributor, fiat, bun, favourable, bouquet, retribution, attribution, imp, rebuke, impossibility, bower, impotent, aren, beamer, bosque, approbation, 84 more

through Ancient Greek φῦλον ‘tribe, genus, species’

phylum, 7 more

Today it means

noun The evolutionary history of groups of organisms, such as species or clades.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- / phylogeny

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