Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

paraphyletic

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.32 in modern English

Syllables
pa-ra-phylet-ic
IPA
24
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
4
Syllables
10
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of a defined group of taxa: not including all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of all members.

Etymology

From para- (“near”) + Ancient Greek φῦλον (phûlon, “tribe, race”) + -etic.

Word Breakdown

Derived Forms

paraphyletically

Frequently Paired Words

monophyletic holophyletic polyphyletic paraphyly

Questions

What does paraphyletic mean?
Of a defined group of taxa: not including all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of all members.
Where does paraphyletic come from?
From para- (“near”) + Ancient Greek φῦλον (phûlon, “tribe, race”) + -etic.

How to pronounce paraphyletic

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “paraphyletic”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “paraphyletic”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “paraphyletic” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.