phyla

IPA/ˈfaɪ.ləm/
KK[fˈaɪlə]IPA/ˈfaɪ.ləm/

phyla — noun

  • phylasingular
  • phylasplural

1. Major groups in the scientific system for classifying living things, placed abov

1.名詞C1
釋義

Major groups in the scientific system for classifying living things, placed above classes and used especially for animals.

例句

The poster shows the eight animal phyla covered in Mei's biology course.

animal phyla — common classroom collocation

Museum labels place jellyfish and worms in different phyla for visitors to compare.

同義詞
  • taxonomic groups

    broader and less exact; it can refer to many levels, not only phyla

  • divisions

    a shorter scientific label that can overlap with phylum in some classification systems

  • classifications

    focuses on the system or arrangement more than on one specific rank

文法句型

animal phyla

different phyla

belong to separate phyla

用法筆記

This sense is used mainly in biology classes and scientific writing. Phyla is the irregular plural of phylum and usually appears after number words or adjectives such as different, major, and separate.

常見錯誤

❌Three phylum appear on this chart.
✅Three phyla appear on this chart.
💡Use phyla for the plural form.
❌This insect belongs to a phyla.
✅This insect belongs to a phylum.
💡After a or an, use the singular form phylum.

2. Very large language groups whose member languages share an old origin, though th

2.名詞C2
釋義

Very large language groups whose member languages share an old origin, though their links are looser than within one family.

例句

The lecture compared several African language phyla and the regions where they spread.

language phyla — technical label in historical linguistics

Researchers still disagree about how many phyla the island's oldest languages represent.

同義詞

文法句型

language phyla

several phyla

under two phyla

用法筆記

This sense appears chiefly in historical linguistics and other specialist writing. It names a very large grouping of related languages, not one language and not the smaller family level taught in basic language study.

常見錯誤

❌Spanish and Italian are two phyla.
✅Spanish and Italian belong to the same language family.
💡Phyla are very large historical groupings, not individual languages.
❌English is a phyla.
✅English is a language.
💡A phylum names a large group, not a single language.